Israeli and Palestinian killed in West Bank violence

HEBRON, West Bank - A Palestinian driver has run over and killed an Israeli at an army checkpoint in the West Bank before soldiers shot him dead in the latest violence to strain a de facto ceasefire, witnesses said.

The Israeli was the first to be killed by a Palestinian since five Israelis were killed in a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv nightclub on February 25.

A handful of Palestinians have also died since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to a ceasefire with Israel at a peace summit in Egypt in February. Militant groups had agreed to abide by a de facto truce although some splinter groups have said they were not bound by the deal.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli soldiers shot the Palestinian driver after he hit the Israeli with his vehicle at the army checkpoint near the West Bank city of Hebron.

The Palestinian later died in a Hebron hospital, doctors said.

- REUTERS