MIDDLE EAST: At least 12 Israelis were killed and 15 injured yesterday when Palestinian gunmen opened fire and threw grenades at a group of Jewish settlers on their way to Sabbath evening prayers in a shrine in the divided West Bank city of Hebron.
Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Initial reports said there were also soldiers among the dead, most likely ambushed when they rushed to the scene.
The worshippers were making their way from the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, which is believed to be the burial cave of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and a shrine revered by both Muslims and Jews.
A fierce gunfight erupted at the scene of the attack, making it difficult for ambulances to get to the wounded. Gunbattles were still raging 90 minutes later, and flares lit up the night sky over the city as Israeli troops searched for the gunmen.
"It's a very grave incident on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath, close to the site of prayers," Lieut Col Olivier Rafowicz, a spokesman for the army, said.
Senior Israeli defence officials were holding urgent consultations last night to discuss the attack.
It was not initially clear how Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon might respond, although military observers suggested some form of retaliation was almost certain.
Only three weeks ago, Mr Sharon ordered Israeli forces to withdraw from most of the Palestinian-controlled sections of the city, which had been reoccupied earlier this year.
The army was ordered out because the city has been largely quiet in recent months. Tensions, however, often run high in Hebron, home to 130,000 Palestinians and some 450 Jewish settlers, who live under heavy guard.
Hebron was divided into Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled areas as part of an interim deal in January 1997. More than 20,000 Palestinians live in the Israeli-controlled sector.
The city has a bloody history. In 1929, the Arab residents turned on the Jews living there, massacring more than 60 of them. In February 1994, a settler from Kiryat Arba, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire on Muslim worshippers as they were praying in the Cave of the Patriarchs, killing 29 people.