Palestinian gunmen infiltrated a Jewish settlement today and held residents hostage in a house before Israeli commandos stormed the building and killed one of the gunmen, Israeli television stations said.
The Israeli army declined immediate comment on the report but confirmed that at least one Palestinian gunman had infiltrated the Hamra Jewish settlement in the West Bank's Jordan Valley and wounded several people.
Ambulance officials said five Israelis were wounded, including a mother and daughter who were critically hurt.
Israeli television stations said gunmen shot at two security guards at the entrance to the settlement, sprayed gunfire at Israeli forces who rushed to the scene, and then took over a resident's house.
They said the incident ended when an elite police commandos raided the house and killed a gunman. Israeli forces were conducting a house to house search in the settlement for more gunmen, television stations reported.
Meanwhile the Israeli army said it had seized eight Qassam-2 missiles and a launcher hidden on a Palestinian truck which have a range capable of hitting towns and cities in Israel.
In a news conference called shortly after Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon left for White House talks in the United States, the army said the missiles were found under vegetables in the truck travelling from the West Bank city of Nablus to nearby Palestinian-ruled Jenin early today.
Israeli Brigadier-General Gershon Yitzhak said the missiles, which have a range of about seven km (four miles), and a launcher, were being transported to Palestinian-ruled cities near the frontier with Israel to threaten Israeli cities .
Earlier Israeli police boarded a bus in Jerusalem today and arrested a passenger with explosives strapped to his body, a police spokesman said.
The driver of the bus travelling to the Maale Adumim Jewish settlement near Jerusalem stopped at a military checkpoint on the outskirts of the city and told police he had spotted a suspicious-looking man on board, the spokesman said.
"There was some sort of a struggle on the bus," the spokesman said. When they (police) took him off they found an explosive belt on his body.
"The bomb was defused by police bomb disposal experts," the spokesman said. He said it was not yet clear whether the man had intended to blow himself up or was planning to plant the bomb. The spokesman provided no details on the suspect's identity.
Meanwhile Jerusalem city council today demolished three Palestinian houses in Israeli-occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, in the second such operation this week in the disputed city, the council said.