A Palestinian policeman shot dead an Israeli man and wounded four at a site in the West Bank this morning, the Israeli military said.
The shooting threatened to inflame tensions in the West Bank, where Jewish settlers and Palestinians live in uneasy proximity and where settlers have responded to attacks in the past with violent reprisals.
Israeli police identified the dead man as Ben-Yosef Livnat, a Jerusalem resident in his mid-20s. Israeli media reported that Livnat was the nephew of Limor Livnat, a prominent hardline Cabinet minister from the ruling Likud Party.
Ben-Yosef Livnat and several companions entered the Palestinian city of Nablus early today to visit a site known as Joseph's Tomb.
Jewish worshippers regularly enter the city with a special military escort to pray at the small building traditionally identified as the gravesite of the biblical Joseph, located inside a Palestinian-ruled area. Those visits are coordinated with Palestinian security forces. Israeli and Palestinian officials said Sunday's visit was not cleared with either side.
Palestinian officials notified the Israeli military that the Israelis "were shot by a Palestinian policeman who, after identifying suspicious movements, fired in their direction," the Israeli military said.
Israeli and Palestinian security forces work closely together to prevent violence. A meeting between the sides was scheduled for later today to discuss the shooting, the military said.
Jibril al-Bakri, the Palestinian governor of Nablus, said the Palestinian Authority was investigating. "The main problem is that they (the Israelis) entered the city without coordination," al-Bakri said.
The Israeli government had no immediate comment.
The Palestinian Authority governs parts of the West Bank, though Israel retains overall security control. But as coordination has improved, the Israeli military has given Palestinian forces increasing responsibility in areas under their control.
Nablus moved from Israeli to Palestinian control in the mid-1990s as part of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but Israel retained control over the tomb building.