Five Wounded in West Bank Shooting, Attacker Killed

Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)
Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)
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Five Wounded in West Bank Shooting, Attacker Killed

Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)
Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)

A gun attack in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron wounded five people on Saturday, including four Israelis and a Palestinian, with the assailant shot dead.

Extreme-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed on Twitter that his Hebron home was the target.

Israel's security forces have not confirmed the allegation and Israeli media, citing security sources, have reported Ben-Gvir's home in a Hebron settlement was not targeted.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency response service reported five wounded.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Palestinian victim was being treated at a Hebron area hospital.

Israel's army said an attacker "shot live fire" near a checkpoint in Hebron, a West Bank city which is also home to a community of hardline Jewish settlers.

An army spokesperson told AFP that an Israeli security guard shot the attacker dead at the scene.

"Soldiers are conducting searches in the area" for additional suspects, the army said.

The United Nations envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Wennesland, warned on Friday that the West Bank was "caught in a downward spiral" of bloodshed. This year is on track to be the deadliest in the territory in more than a decade.

More than 100 Palestinians, including fighters and attackers, have been killed across the West Bank as Israel has conducted near daily raids targeting alleged militants.

The raids were launched following a spate of deadly attacks targeting Israelis that began in March.



Schools Closed in Beirut after Deadly Israeli Strike

Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
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Schools Closed in Beirut after Deadly Israeli Strike

Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP
Firefighters douse flames at the site of an Israeli strike on a building in the Lebanese capital - AFP

Schools in Beirut were closed on Monday after Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital killed six people including Hezbollah's spokesman, the latest in a string of top militant targets slain in the war.

Israel escalated its bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds in late September, vowing to secure its northern border with Lebanon to allow Israelis displaced by cross-border fire to return home.

Sunday's strikes hit densely populated districts of central Beirut that had so far been spared the violence engulfing other areas of Lebanon.

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The strikes prompted the education ministry to shut schools and higher education institutions in the Beirut area for two days.

Children and young people around Lebanon have been heavily impacted by the war, which has seen schools around the country turned into shelters for the displaced.

Lebanese authorities say more than 3,480 people have been killed since October last year, with most casualties recorded since September.

Israel says 48 soldiers have been killed fighting Hezbollah, AFP reported.

Another strike hit a busy shopping district of Beirut, sparking a huge blaze that engulfed part of a building and several shops nearby.

Lebanon's National News Agency said the fire had largely been extinguished by Monday morning, noting it had caused diesel fuel tanks to explode.

"In a quarter of an hour our whole life's work was lost," said Shukri Fuad, who owned a shop destroyed in the strike.

Ayman Darwish worked at an electronics shop that was hit.

"Everyone knows us, everyone knows this area is a civilian area, no one is armed here," he said.

One of those killed in the strike, Darwish said, was the son of the owner of the store where he worked.

"The martyr Mahmud used to come after working hours, in the evenings and even on Sundays, to deal with client requests," he said.

The NNA reported new strikes early Monday on locations around south Lebanon, long a stronghold of Hezbollah.