Israeli police officer killed in West Bank shooting

Occupied Jerusalem: Palestinian gunmen have opened fire on a police vehicle in the West Bank, killing an Israeli police officer and wounding two others, police said, in a rare flare-up of violence after months of calm.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident occurred near Hebron, in the southern West Bank where hardline Jewish colonisers live in fortified enclaves amid tens of thousands of Palestinians.

There was no claim of responsibility. But Rosenfeld said police were treating the incident as an attack by Palestinian fighters, and were searching the area for suspects.

Israeli vehicles had been frequently targeted in West Bank drive-by shooting attacks, but such attacks have diminished considerably in recent years.