Palestinian militants shot dead three Israelis and wounded five in two drive-by ambushes outside Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank today, Israeli medical and rescue services said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, the first of their kind in four months, at hitchhiking posts outside the Gush Etzion settlement bloc in the southern West Bank and Eli settlement in the centre of the territory.
Three people were killed at Gush Etzion and four others were wounded.
Minutes later, Palestinian gunmen fired on a road junction outside Eli settlement in the central West Bank, wounding one Israeli seriously.
- In the northern West Bank, Israeli troops killed a senior Palestinian militant during a clash, Israel Radio said, citing Palestinian sources.
It said the militant, a leader of Islamic Jihad in Jenin, was cornered by Israeli special forces south of the Palestinian-administered city and opened fire.
He was shot dead.