Jerusalem, June 09: An Israeli soldier was killed in a gunbattle in the divided West Bank town of Hebron in which two armed Palestinians were gunned down, the Army said today. The two Palestinians earlier yesterday opened fire on Israeli border guards near the tomb of the patriarchs, a site holy to both Jews and Muslims, in the heart of Hebron.
One of the guards was injured in that attack, the Army said in a statement.
Soldiers imposed a curfew following the shooting and elite troops tracked down the assailants who were hiding out on the rooftop of a house in the Casbah marketplace of Hebron. One of the troops was shot dead before the two Palestinians armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles were gunned down, the Army said.
A military spokesman said the Army overnight demolished the house where the militants had taken refuge, while 15 wanted Palestinian activists were rounded up around the West Bank, 11 of them in the Bethlehem area. Today, the Army kept in place a total blockade of the West Bank for a second day due to increased threats of cross-border attack into Israel, the spokesman said. Bureau Report