Israeli Killed in West Bank Shooting

At least one Israeli was killed and four wounded when a Palestinian policeman opened fire on a vehicle near a flashpoint West Bank shrine on Sunday, the Israeli army said.

In a statement, the Israeli military said Palestinian officials confirmed the shooter in the incident was a Palestinian policeman who opened fire "after identifying suspicious movements."

The incident occurred early on Sunday morning near Joseph's Tomb, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

"Shots were fired at three vehicles close to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, the vehicles continued moving to the settlement of Har Bracha," a statement issued by the Magen David Adom medical service said.

"After attempts at reviving him, a man of around 30 years was declared dead. A young man of 20 was seriously injured and a youth of around 17 was moderately wounded. Two others were lightly wounded," it said.

One of the men injured in the attack sustained a gunshot wound to the stomach and was in serious condition, while the second was shot in the shoulder and was in moderate condition, hospital medics said.

The shooting occurred when Palestinian security forces opened fire on an Israeli vehicle that had entered the Palestinian-controlled area without permission, a statement from the Israeli military said.

"An Israeli civilian was killed and four others injured after entering Joseph's Tomb in Nablus unpermitted," the statement said, citing an account of the incident given by Palestinian officials.

"The civilians were shot by a Palestinian policeman who, after identifying suspicious movements, fired at their direction."

But a security officer for the settlers' regional council for the northern West Bank, where the attack occurred, said the shooting appeared deliberate.

"They went into Joseph's Tomb to pray for just a few seconds. On leaving they were fired upon by those terrorists called Palestinian policemen," Yosi Dagan, of the Samaria regional council, told Israeli public radio.

The casualties, he said, were a group of ultra-Orthodox Hassidic Jews.

Nablus governor Jibril al-Bakri told Agence France Presse that the incident was "under investigation by a Palestinian committee," but he stressed that the group had entered a Palestinian-controlled area without prior permission.

Israeli military and police surrounded the tomb site, and clashes broke out with tens of Palestinians, prompting troops to fire in the air and throw sound bombs in an attempt to disperse the crowd.