Palestinian attacker shot dead after killing Israeli in West Bank
A Palestinian assailant shot dead an Israeli in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday and wounded four others, including another Palestinian, before being killed by a security guard.
The shooting comes just days before Israel holds its fifth election in less than four years and with violence surging in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Extreme-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Religious Zionism alliance is eyeing major gains in elections on Tuesday, claimed on Twitter that his Hebron home was the target.
Israel's security forces have not confirmed the allegation and Israeli media, citing security sources, have reported Ben-Gvir's home in a Hebron settlement was not targeted.
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency response service initially reported five wounded, including a 50-year-old Israeli man left "unconscious with an injury to his upper body".
A spokesperson for Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center told AFP that man later died of his wounds.
The other Israelis suffered less severe injuries, the MDA said, while the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that the Palestinian victim was being treated at a Hebron area hospital.
Israel's army said "a terrorist shot live fire" near a checkpoint in Hebron, a West Bank city which is also home to a community of hardline Jewish settlers.
An army spokesperson told AFP that an Israeli security guard shot the attacker dead at the scene.
"Soldiers are conducting searches in the area" for additional suspects, the army said.
- 'Downward spiral' -
The United Nations envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Wennesland, warned on Friday that the West Bank was "caught in a downward spiral" of bloodshed. This year is on track to be the deadliest in the territory in more than a decade.
More than 100 Palestinians, including fighters and attackers but also civilians, have been killed across the West Bank as Israel has conducted near daily raids targeting alleged militants.
The raids were launched following a spate of deadly attacks targeting Israelis that began in March.
Israeli operations have primarily been concentrated in the northern West Bank, while Hebron in the south has seen less unrest.
However, Hebron has been rocked by waves of violence through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as it hosts a disputed holy site, known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi mosque and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, which is revered by both faiths.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted on Saturday that he was "praying" for those wounded in Kiryat Arba, the Hebron community home to a group of predominately right-wing, religious settlers.
"Terrorism will not defeat us," said Lapid, who is currently serving as caretaker premier but is hoping to secure an independent mandate in Tuesday's vote.
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who typically polls well among West Bank settlers, is eyeing a return to power after 18 months in opposition.
About 475,000 Jewish settlers currently live in the West Bank in communities considered illegal by most of the international community, alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians.
