TEL AVIV, July 26: Four Israelis were killed on Friday when gunmen sprayed fire at two vehicles at a road junction in the West Bank.

Israeli television said the dead included a married couple and their child.

The attack raised fears of a new surge of violence in the Middle East conflict after an Israeli air strike that killed 15 Palestinians in Gaza City on Tuesday, including nine children and a top leader.

A police spokesman said the gunmen got out of their car and opened fire at the two vehicles at the Zif junction south of the West Bank city of Al Khalil, shortly before the start of the Jewish Sabbath at sunset.

Three other people were hurt, the Magen David ambulance service said. The army said it was searching for the gunmen.

“Palestinian terror has zeroed on its preferred target — innocent Israeli civilians,” said David Baker, an official at Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office.

“This attack is proof that the Palestinian Authority is hooked on terror. Palestinian terrorists are obsessed with any prospect of attacking Israelis on our streets, in our markets, or on our roads,” he said.

The international community regards the settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this. Israeli soldiers pushed briefly into Gaza City earlier on Friday, using demolition charges to blow up buildings where they said Palestinians had been making rockets.

Palestinian security officials said four Palestinians were wounded in the three-hour raid, Israel’s first in the area since the air strike there on Tuesday which was heavily criticized abroad and drew a rare rebuke from Israel’s ally, the United States.

The missile strike was also criticized for scuppering a nascent Palestinian truce effort to end 22 months of bloodshed.—Reuters