Palestinian woman killed and three Israelis wounded in West Bank shootings

Tensions have been high in the West Bank and Jerusalem during Ramadan

Palestinian protesters gather around a model of Al Aqsa Mosque during an anti-Israel demonstration at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 2, 2021. AFP

A Palestinian woman was killed and three Israelis were wounded in two separate shootings in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

An Israeli soldier shot a Palestinian woman who the military said was trying to carry out a stabbing attack. Palestinian officials said the woman, 60, died of her wounds.

Later in the day, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a busy intersection, wounding three Israelis.

"A suspicious vehicle arrived at the junction and fired towards Israeli civilians who were present at the scene," the army said.

"Troops responded with fire towards the suspicious vehicle which escaped the scene."

Israel's emergency medical service Magen David Adom said it treated three people in their 20s and transferred them to hospital, one in critical condition.

The three were identified by officials as students from a religious seminary in the nearby settlement of Itamar.

Israeli soldiers were searching for the gunmen, who fired from a car near a Jewish settlement before driving off, the military said.

Tension is running high in the West Bank and Jerusalem during Ramadan, peaking with several days of clashes near Jerusalem's Old City between Israeli police and Palestinians over access to a popular night-time meeting spot.

The army said its forces had blocked off routes and were pursuing the assailants.

Security forces will not rest "until they apprehend the terrorists behind the attack", Defence Minister Benny Gantz's office said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would "not allow terrorism to raise its head".

"We will strike our enemies with force."

No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the shooting, but Yigal Dilmoni, head of the Yesha settlers' council, blamed "the Palestinian Authority and their friends in [Islamist movement] Hamas".

The Israeli army said it would send additional troops to the West Bank after a "situational assessment."