Israeli father and son, Palestinians killed in West Bank

An Israeli father and son were shot dead in an apparent ambush near Hebron Friday on a day that also saw three Palestinians die after being shot by Israeli soldiers.

An unknown assailant killed the two Israelis when he opened fire on a car near the Jewish settlement of Otniel, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the army said.

Another two Israelis were wounded, hospital sources said.

"Two Israelis were murdered... when shots were fired at their vehicle near Hebron" in a "terrorist" attack, an army statement said, adding that the gunman fled the area.

It was the most serious attack on Israelis in nearly a month and sparked a manhunt, with soldiers backed by air units deploying en masse in the neighbouring Palestinian communities of Yatta and As Samou, an AFP journalist said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring the attackers to justice.

"We will get to these heinous murderers and we will bring them to justice as we have done in the past," he said in a statement.
Israeli forces took less than a week to arrest the alleged perpetrators of an attack that killed two settlers on 1 October and sparked the latest wave of violence.

Israel says they belonged to a Hamas cell, the Islamist movement that is a staunch enemy of the Jewish state.

- Toll now nearly 100 -

In an unrelated incident, a Palestinian was shot dead during clashes on Friday with the army in Hebron, Palestinian medics said.

Hassan al-Bo, 21, died after being hit in the heart by live ammunition, an official at Al-Ahli Hospital said.

Soldiers also shot dead a man near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

A statement announced "the death of a young man, Lafi Yusuf Awad, 22 years old, from the village of Budrus in the district of Ramallah, (killed) by a bullet from Israeli forces".
Earlier, a Palestinian teenager in Hebron succumbed to his wounds after being shot by troops a day earlier.

More than 200 Palestinians were treated during clashes on Friday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, the majority after inhaling tear gas.

Violence since the start of October, including a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks, has killed 81 people on the Palestinian side -- including one Israeli Arab -- and 12 Israelis.

Many of the Palestinians killed were alleged attackers shot at the scene, while others died in clashes.

The violence was originally focused in and around Jerusalem but has recently shifted to Hebron and its surrounding areas.

The city is a frontline of the conflict, with 500 Jewish settlers living under military protection in the centre of a city of 200,000 Palestinians.

- Calls for peace talks -

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have been declared illegal by the United Nations.

In occupied east Jerusalem, around 200 Palestinians clashed with security forces as they demanded the return of the bodies of alleged attackers from the area.
The weeks of violence have led to renewed calls for a meaningful peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

The two sides have not had face-to-face negotiations since talks fell apart in April 2014, with each side blaming the other for the failure.

Britain's former prime minister Tony Blair, who was previously an envoy for the Middle East peacemaking Quartet, announced a new campaign for a lasting peace agreement on Friday.

Blair said he was now acting as a private citizen to push for a negotiated settlement.

"What I will do both here and throughout the region is work through this Initiative for the Middle East, as I call it, to try and push and promote... a political process in the framework of the Arab peace initiative, major change on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank, and Palestinian unity on the basis of peace," he said.

During his eight-year tenure with the quartet, Palestinian leaders accused Blair of being too close to Israel.
Source: AFP