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Eli shooting: Four shot dead by gunmen at West Bank service station

Militant Islamist group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack near Eli, which it claimed was a response to Israeli forces shooting dead six people during a raid in Jenin on Monday.

Security personnel work at the scene of a suspected Palestinian shooting attack that killed four people near the Jewish settlement of Eli, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Image: Armed servicemen patrol the scene after a fatal shooting in the West Bank settlement of Eli
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Four Israelis have been shot dead and several others injured by Palestinian gunmen at a service station in the occupied West Bank.

The two attackers opened fire on a main road near the Jewish settlement of Eli on Tuesday.

One of the gunmen was shot dead at the scene by a passer-by, while another fled and was later killed in a confrontation with Israeli forces in the town of Tubas.

Israel's military said the shooters were "Hamas-affiliated terrorists", with the militant Islamist group later claiming responsibility for the attack.

A spokesperson for the group said the shooting was a "heroic" response to the deaths of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday.

Hamas warned that Tuesday's shooting could be followed by more actions against Israelis "that will shatter their fragile state and turn the lives of their soldiers and settlers into a nightmare".

On Wednesday, hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed into a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes to avenge the deaths of the four Israelis.

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One man was killed in the violence, Palestinians said.

A security personnel works at the scene of a suspected Palestinian shooting attack that killed four people near the Jewish settlement of Eli, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Image: Used bullets are picked up at the scene of a shooting near the settlement of Eli

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People check a damaged taxi car where a Palestinian was killed by Israeli special forces in Tubas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
Image: People check a damaged taxi where a Palestinian was killed by Israeli special forces in Tubas following a shooting near the settlement of Eli

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the attack that his government would "continue to fight terrorism with all our might and we will defeat it."

He later convened a meeting of security chiefs.

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides condemned the Eli attack and said he was "deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors."

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We'll 'do whatever' to defend Israel

The West Bank - which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967 - has faced a year of near-daily violence amid rising tensions in the region.

Israel has been staging raids in the West Bank, while attacks by Palestinian militants against Israelis have surged.

Up to 120 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank so far this year, while at least 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis during the same period.