Israel kills three Palestinians in reprisal raids following settler attacks

Israeli security forces tracked down a Palestinian accused of killing two Israeli settlers and shot and killed him on Thursday, ending a two-month manhunt hours after troops killed another Palestinian wanted for a separate attack in the occupied territories.

Israeli police said Ashraf Naalweh was found armed near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus and was killed during an arrest raid.

Israel accuses Naalweh of shooting to death two Israeli settlers and wounding another in an attack on a West Bank industrial zone in October. He fled the scene and Israeli forces have been searching for him since.

Israeli troops frequently mount raids in the West Bank, but rights groups have often accused the Israeli military of excessive force and lax application of due process in the occupied territories.

"Israel's long arm will reach anyone who harms Israeli citizens," Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said.

Police said it had made a number of arrests in its attempt to hunt down Naalweh and suspected he was planning on carrying out another attack.

Later on Thursday, Israeli border police shot dead a Palestinian in Jerusalem's Old City after he allegedly stabbed two officers.

The two police officers wounded in Jerusalem on Thursday morning were not in life-threatening condition, a police spokesman said.

Police identified the man as a 26-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank. It released security camera footage that shows the man lunging toward the officers and appearing to stab them.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces killed Salah Barghouti, a Palestinian suspect wanted in a drive-by shooting earlier this week at an occupied West Bank bus stop, shooting him just hours after an Israeli baby delivered prematurely as a result of the attack died.

In Sunday night's attack, assailants in a Palestinian vehicle opened fire at a bus stop outside a West Bank settlement, wounding seven people, including a 21-year-old pregnant woman, before speeding away.

Hamas said that both Barghouti and Naalweh were members of its group but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attacks the two carried out.

"The flame of resistance in the (West) Bank will remain alive until the occupation is defeated on all our land," Hamas said.


Agencies contributed to this report.