Palestinians kill two Israeli cops

A West Bank ambush of a type we have not seen in quite a while.

 

Last update - 23:14 15/03/2009       
Two Israeli policemen die in West Bank shooting
By Jonathan Lis and Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondents

Two Israeli police officers died Sunday evening from gunshots wounds sustained while on patrol near the settlement of Masu'a, in the northern West Bank. p)

 

Both victims were found in their vehicle suffering from critical gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead by medics shortly after discovered, and the other succumbed to his wounds following resuscitation efforts.

 

Police and rescue services were notified shortly after 8 P.M. of an apparent car accident near the Masu'a settlement and of a shooting attack in the same area. Officers who arrived on the scene found the overturned patrol car and the victims inside.
 

 

An Israel Police spokesman said the circumstances of the incident were still being investigated, although the main line of inquiry being pursued was that the two had been shot by one or more Palestinian gunmen.

 

According to an initial investigation, militants opened fire on the patrol car at close-range, causing the officers to lose control of the vehicle.

 

"The two had been killed by gunshots and the main suspicion points to a nationalistic motive," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

 

No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the shooting.

 

Masu'a is located in the Jordan Valley, just southeast of Nablus and near the major West Bank settlement of Ariel...