Palestinian Fighters Open Fire On Settlers Near Hebron, Killing Four

Wednesday September 01, 2010 02:23 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

On Tuesday night, four Israeli settlers were killed just outside Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron, in the southern West Bank, when Palestinian fighters allegedly fired at their car.

Israeli police at site of West Bank shooting (photo by Tomer Appelbaum - Haaretz)

According to Israeli sources, the settlers were driving on a Jewish-only road in the West Bank when gunmen allegedly approached the car and shot all four passengers, including a pregnant woman.

The armed wing of the Hamas party, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes just one day before planned talks between the Israeli and Palestinian leadership. The identity of the fighters is unknown.

This is the first attack on Israelis in the West Bank since June, when an Israeli police officer was killed by a Palestinian fighter.

At least 6,286 Palestinians (source B'Tselem) and 542 Israelis (source IDF) have been killed since September 2000, when the second Palestinian uprising began.

hebron | palestinian attacks | news report saed at imemc dot org