Two Israelis dead after attacks in West Bank

Two Israelis have died after an attack by a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Israeli officials say.

The military said a man stabbed to death a soldier at an intersection near the Jewish settlement of Ariel before stealing his rifle and shooting a civilian and another soldier.

The civilian succumbed to his injuries on Monday while the second soldier remains in a serious condition in hospital.

The civilian was named as Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, 47, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Eli and a father to 12 children.

Israeli forces are searching for the attacker, who fled the scene in a car.

Israeli military spokesman Lt Col Jonathan Conricus said Sunday's incident began at about 09:45 (07:45 GMT) when the attacker stabbed a soldier near the Ariel Junction and seized his assault rifle.

He then opened fire at three passing vehicles, hitting a civilian in the first vehicle, Col Conricus added. The second vehicle was hit but continued moving. The third car stopped and the attacker hijacked it.

He then drove to the nearby Gitai Avishar Junction, where he shot a soldier standing at a hitchhiking post.

From there, the attacker drove to the Palestinian village of Bruqin, abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, Col Conricus said.

The Israeli army and Shin Bet security service arrested relatives of the suspected Palestinian assailant who killed a soldier and gravely wounded two others in the West Bank a day prior.

The Israeli military identified the attacker as Omar Amin Abu Lila, a 19-year-old resident of the West Bank village of al-Zawiya with no known associations with any militant group.

Following the attack, the military blocked the entrances to the Palestinian villages of Salfit, Haris, Deir Istiya, as well as the entrance to the village of Kifl Haris. Security forces searched the adjacent villages and the military instructed nearby settlements to shut their gates until the attacker is found.