Israeli dead in West Bank attack

JERUSALEM - An Israeli was killed Sunday and two others wounded in stabbing and shooting attacks believed to have been carried out by a Palestinian assailant in the occupied West Bank, the army said.

"One Israeli is dead," Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said of the attacks near the Ariel junction southwest of Nablus, carried out by a "terrorist" who "appears to be Palestinian".

The incident began with the perpetrator attacking a soldier with a knife at the Ariel junction, near an Israeli settlement by the same name, and snatching his weapon, Conricus said.

"That same assailant fired with that weapon toward three vehicles," he said, with the third car targeted stopping.

"The terrorist took the vehicle and used it to drive" to the nearby Gitai Avishar junction, where he opened fire and wounded another soldier, Conricus said.

The assailant then continued to the nearby Palestinian village of Bruqin.

"A manhunt is ongoing," Conricus said.

Medics said they evacuated two Israeli men, aged 16 and 20, to hospital with both suffering bullet wounds and in serious condition.

Conricus did not provide details on the identity of the person killed, nor say if he had been stabbed or shot.

The army also did not say whether the suspected Palestinian assailant was affiliated with a militant group or had acted alone.

Palestinian attacks against Israeli settlers and soldiers occur sporadically in the West Bank.