Israeli police say Palestinian gunmen have opened fire on a group of Israeli workers in the divided city of Hebron, wounding two women.

One of the victims is in a critical condition in hospital.

A bus, bringing the workers into the city from the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, is reported to have come under a hail of bullets near the Cave of the Patriarchs, holy to both Jews and Moslems, and close to the Palestinian-controlled area of Hebron.

The Israeli army responded by reinforcing its troops in Hebron and imposing a curfew on areas under its control.