Settler killed in gunman attack

An Jewish settler shot in an ambush by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank has died of his injuries.

The gunman fired at a car travelling near the Itamar settlement outside the city of Nablus, injuring the occupants, before himself being shot dead.

The two injured settlers were evacuated to hospital in Israel, before one of them died.

Palestinian militants have regularly targeted settlers over the four years of the present intifada (uprising).

The gunman in this incident is reported to have grabbed a rifle from the car he ambushed before being chased by security guards from the settlement.

He was then shot and killed.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

It named the dead militant as Yussef Ahmed Hanani, 25, a lieutenant in the Palestinian preventive security police, reported AFP news agency.

The Israeli who died has not been named.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Israel has committed itself to freezing settlement activity under the international peace plan known as the roadmap.