Four shot dead near West Bank settlement

Four people were shot dead Tuesday near a settlement in the occupiedWestBank, Israeli officials said, a day after an army raid in the territory left six Palestinians dead.

The attack took place at a petrol station near the Eli settlement, south of Nablus.

Four other people were wounded, according to Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services.

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The Israeli military said "a civilian in the area neutralised one of the terrorists" -- without giving further details on their condition. A second assailant was shot by Israeli forces following a manhunt, Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency and the military said.

Israel has occupied theWestBanksince the 1967 Six-Day War and the territory, excluding east Jerusalem, is now home to around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.

An MDA spokesperson said its medics confirmed four fatalities but their nationalities were not immediately available.

The assailants' identity also could not be immediately confirmed.

An AFP photographer saw Israeli police officers inspecting a partially-covered body, as soldiers and medics stood nearby.

The area around the gas station and an adjacent restaurant were sealed off with police tape.

The office of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said security officials were meeting at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT).

Eliana Passentin, an Israeli settler and resident of Eli, said "we should be able to live our lives every day without being afraid."

"This is our land, this is where we live and we will be strong," she told AFP at the scene.

Deadly raid in Jenin

The shooting comes a day after Israeli forces launched a raid in theWestBankcity of Jenin, in which six Palestinians were killed.

A spokesman for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Hazem Qassem, described Tuesday's shooting as a "response to the crimes of the (Israeli) occupation" in Jenin and elsewhere.

Tariq Selmi, spokesman for the Islamic Jihad militant group, praised a "heroic commando operation" and described it as Palestinians exercising their "legitimate right to self-defence."

The sixth Jenin fatality, Amjad Aref Jaas, died from his gunshot wounds on Tuesday, a Palestinian health ministry statement said.

More than 90 Palestinians were wounded in the hours-long raid, according to health officials, while the Israeli military said eight security personnel were wounded.

After the firefight between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants ended on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry announced Israeli troops killed a 20-year-old near theWestBankcity of Bethlehem.

Zakaria Mohammed al-Zaoul was shot in the head in the town of Husan, the ministry said.

The Israeli military said "a suspect hurled Molotov cocktails" at soldiers, who "responded with live fire".

In a statement, Islamic Jihad claimed Zaoul as a member.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported the military used live fire, tear gas and stun grenades during the clashes with young Palestinians.

The deaths are the latest in a surge of violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which before Tuesday's shooting had killed at least 166 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italianthis year.

The tally compiled from official sources includes combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.

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