A Palestinian gunman opened fire Friday, killing an Israeli father and son as they were driving in the occupied West Bank and wounding several others in the car, Israeli officials said, the latest in a nearly 2-month old rash of violence and almost daily Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers. Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops, one near Hebron and the other in the city of Ramallah, Palestinian officials said. A third Palestinian died Friday of wounds sustained in clashes with security forces the previous day. The West Bank shooting attack killed an Israeli man in his 40s and a youth of about 18 years of age near the city of Hebron, according to Eli Bin from Israel's emergency services. Israeli media said that the two were father and son. Dr. Tzvi Perry from Soroka hospital in the southern Israeli town of Beersheba said "five wounded people from the same family" were brought to the hospital. The military said the attacker fled the scene and that troops were searching the area. Israel media reported that at least one Palestinian opened fire from the side of the road at a passing car, killing the two Israelis. Israeli media aired footage from the aftermath of the attack, showing a crashed car by the side of the road. Media said there were seven people in the car, members of the same settler family living in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed condolences and vowed to hunt down the attackers. "We will find the despicable murderers and bring them to justice as we have in the past," he said in a statement. Channel 10 said the attackers used an AK-47 assault rifle and fired at least 14 bullets and that he had accomplices. Hamas praised the attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility for it. Hebron, the largest West Bank city, has been a particular flashpoint in the current round of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Several hundred Israeli settlers live in fortified enclaves in the city, amid tens of thousands of Palestinians. The military says that over the past month, Palestinians have carried out dozens of attacks in Hebron alone, including more than 20 stabbings, multiple assaults with cars and other vehicles and several shooting attacks. Meanwhile, a Hebron hospital said a Palestinian was shot and killed in clashes with Israeli security forces near the city Friday. Israel's military said hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and rolled burning tires at soldiers stationed near Hebron who deployed "low-caliber fire" at "the main instigators." Osama al-Najar, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman, said a second Palestinian was killed Friday in clashes with Israeli military, near Ramallah. The ministry reported that 22 others were wounded in clashes in West Bank. And earlier Friday, a Palestinian died of wounds sustained in clashes the day before. After Friday prayers in Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli soldiers on the border. The Gaza Health Ministry said 17 rock-throwers were hurt from Israeli retaliatory fire. No further details were immediately available. In other developments Friday, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced his return to the difficult world of Mideast diplomacy, saying he was launching a new initiative to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace as a private citizen. The initiative will include promoting a 2002 Arab initiative that offered a comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for a full pullout from lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war, working to improve the Palestinian economy and trying to end a split that has left the Palestinians torn between rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
