Settler kills suspected Palestinian gunman in West Bank

An Israeli settler killed an assailant in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Israeli military said, the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence in the Palestinian territory.

The incident occurred at Dorot Illit settlement in the north of the West Bank, the army said in a statement.

“A terrorist armed with knives and explosive devices arrived at the Dorot Illit area” before the settler spotted the assailant, opened fire and “neutralized” him, it said.

Contacted by AFP, the military confirmed the assailant had been shot dead. The Palestinian health ministry said the settler killed 21-year-old Abd al-Karim al-Sheikh at Qalqilya, a Palestinian city near Dorot Illit.

It came hours after a member of the armed wing of Hamas opened fire on a cafe in Tel Aviv, wounding three people before being shot dead by police.

One of the wounded remained in critical condition on Friday, said the hospital where he is being treated.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said he had ordered the immediate destruction of the assailant’s house in Nilin, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Overnight, the Israeli army, the Shin Bet internal security service and border police deployed at the attacker’s home, the military said.

During the operation, “two members of the terrorist’s family were apprehended… for further questioning,” it said in a statement.

On Thursday morning, three armed Palestinians including two extremist fighters were killed in an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank.

Extremists and Hamas vowed to avenge the deaths.

Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 77 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians.

Twelve Israeli civilians, including three children, and one policeman, as well as one Ukrainian civilian have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.