TEL AVIV, July 22: Israeli policemen shot dead an Israeli Arab motorist on Tuesday near a village close to the West Bank after mistaking him for a Palestinian militant preparing an attack, police said.

The sources said the border guards opened fire on a vehicle suspected of carrying Palestinian militants after the driver failed to obey orders to stop and tried to speed away.

The driver was killed and a passenger managed to flee from the scene of the shooting near the village of Taibeh.

Israeli police had been on high alert following threats of Palestinian attacks and set up roadblocks in the area in central Israel close to the West Bank, police sources added. —AFP