Palestinian gunman kills 3 Israelis at West Bank
UN says settlements are expanding 'at high rate'
A Palestinian yesterday opened fire at Israeli security personnel at the entrance to a West Bank settlement where he had worked, killing three and wounding another before being shot dead, police said.
The attack, which came as US envoy Jason Greenblatt was due in Jerusalem for talks on relaunching the moribund Middle East peace process, drew condemnation from Israeli officials who called for action from the Palestinian leadership.
It also occurred in the middle of the Jewish high holiday period, when Israeli-Palestinian violence has erupted in the past, and led police to order reinforcements to prevent further unrest.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded a clear condemnation of the attack from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, adding that the gunman's home would be demolished and Israeli work permits withdrawn from his extended family.
The target of the attack was Har Adar, a well-to-do settlement northwest of Jerusalem, high in the hills close to the Green Line that separates the occupied West Bank from Israel.
The windows of the guard booth at its northeastern entrance, where Palestinian day labourers are required to undergo security checks, had been shattered by gunfire, an AFP correspondent reported.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the gunman, who had a permit to work in the settlement and had previously worked there "many times," had concealed himself among other Palestinian labourers.
"He hesitated and then all of a sudden, several metres (yards) before a security check, pulled out a nine-millimetre weapon and opened fire directly at the two private security guards, who were shot and killed directly at the scene," Rosenfeld said.
He also fired at a nearby border policeman, who was left dead, while two other officers shot and killed him.
Israel's Shin Bet internal security service identified the gunman as Nimer Aljamal, a 37-year-old father of four from the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Surik with no previous "security background".
Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, hailed the attack as "revenge for the crime of occupation against our people."