Two Israelis shot dead in occupied West Bank attack

A gunman opened fire at a gas station in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing two male Israeli settlers, the army and medics said, the latest flash of unrest in the area as Israel's war on Gaza rages on. 

"We performed medical tests, but... in a short time we had to determine their death," the emergency response service Magen David Adom said of the shooting near the Eli settlement in the Palestinian territory.

"A short while ago, a terrorist arrived at a gas station in Eli and opened fire. The terrorist was neutralised," the army said, adding troops were pursuing other suspects in the area.

The incident occurred at the same gas station in Eli where four Israelis were shot dead by three Palestinian attackers in June last year.

Thursday's shooting came days after three Palestinian men killed one Israeli and wounded several others, including a young pregnant woman, near the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim.

Since the Gaza war broke out, at least 403 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

There has been an unprecedented uptick in the amount of often deadly Israeli military raids throughout the occupied West Bank since 7 October, though such raids were even intensifying before Israel's attack on Gaza, with the expansion of illegal settlements.

Settler attacks against Palestinian communities in the West Bank have also never been higher, prompting Israel's American and European allies to sanction Israeli settlers involved in attacks against Palestinians.

Palestinian militants have also carried out numerous attacks against Israeli troops and civilians in Israel and the West Bank, killing at least 17, according to Israeli figures.

Israel illegally seized and occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it later unilaterally annexed, in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. It has continued to build illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory defying international law. 

International law determines that the Palestinians have rights to the entire West Bank, including East Jerusalem, along with the war-torn Gaza Strip for their future independent state.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed over 30,000 people, the vast majority of whom are innocent civilians, including over 13,000 children.