Deadly Palestinian attack sparks more West Bank violence

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -A Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli brothers as they were driving in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, sparking attacks by Israeli settlers on houses and cars during which one Palestinian was killed, according to officials.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Palestinian attack, which came as Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Jordan to discuss ways of lowering tensions.

Israel’s military said the gunman came to a junction “and opened fire towards an Israeli vehicle”.

It said the casualties near Hawara, an area that sees regular friction between Palestinians and settlers, were brothers from Har Bracha, a settlement 8 km (5 miles) away. One was a soldier in a program for Jewish seminary students.

After the shooting, Palestinians reported that Israelis from a nearby settlement had attacked Palestinian houses in the area.

Ghassan Daghlas, an official in charge of anti-settlement activities, said several Palestinian houses and 15 cars had been set on fire.

A 37-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by an Israeli settler, the Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military, which was operating in the area, did not have any immediate comment.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he held the Israeli government fully responsible for the attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said soldiers were pursuing the attacker, and the military said it had blocked off the area.

“I ask, even when the blood is boiling, not to take the law into one’s hands. I ask that the IDF and the security forces be allowed to carry out their work,” Netanyahu said.

European Union envoy to the Middle East Sven Koopmans said he was “alarmed by the spiral of violence” and called on all authorities to “act to end bloodshed and impunity immediately and prevent further losses”.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta, Dan Williams, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Barbara Lewis, Alexander Smith and Jan Harvey)