Two Israelis were shot dead as four Palestinian gunmen attacked two Jewish settlements near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, before themselves being gunned down, public media and military sources said this evening.
In the first of the almost simultaneous attacks, three Israelis were killed by two of the gunmen who infiltrated Kiryat Arba, the military sources said.
Those militants were themselves then shot dead by large numbers of Israeli security forces who rushed to the area, they said, adding that another eight people were wounded in the attack.
Israeli public television had earlier said the attackers had taken refuge in one of the settlement's houses, although it was unclear if that was where the Israelis were killed.
A short time later, Israeli public media reported that another two Palestinian gunmen were killed trying to enter a second nearby settlement, Nahal Negohot, before also being shot dead by security forces.
There were no immediate reports of Israeli victims in the second attack.
There were also no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks.
The deaths brought the number of people killed since the outbreak of the uprising against Israeli occupation 29 months ago to 3,058, including 2,289 Palestinians and 712 Israelis.
AFP