A Palestinian gunman killed a Jewish settler in an ambush outside a settlement in the West Bank Friday before being shot and killed by security guards from the enclave, Israeli officials said.
Responsibility for the attack was claimed by an armed group in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement that also carried out a bombing at an Israeli army checkpoint outside Jerusalem that caused both Palestinian and Israeli casualties.
An army spokeswoman said the gunman sneaked into an area close to the rear gate of the settlement of Itamar and fired on a car driven by Jewish settler Shlomo Miller, who was patrolling the perimeter fence.
"The assailant, armed with an AK-47 (assault rifle) shot the Israeli civilian, took the civilian's own assault rifle out of the car and tried to run away," the spokeswoman said.
"Other security guards nearby rushed immediately to the scene and shot the assailant dead."
Later in the day at his father's funeral, Miller's son lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for an Israeli plan to allow some Palestinian security officers to carry weapons to quell growing chaos and anarchy in Gaza by militants.
"How dare you sit with these murderers and give them guns?" said Eliyahu Miller, 17. "Look what they are doing with these guns. They killed my father. We have remained a family with seven children and no father."