TEL AVIV, Nov 15: At least 12 Jewish settlers were killed and 30 others wounded on Friday in back-to-back ambushes on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Al Khalil.

An undetermined number of gunmen opened fire on settlers on a road that leads to the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, on the eastern outskirts.

Shortly afterwards, Israeli soldiers rushing to the scene from the direction of the settlement came under fire and grenade attacks.

Al Khalil is the scene of frequent clashes between the settlers and Palestinians. Some 600 Jewish settlers live there enclaved among 120,000 Palestinians.

Last month, Israeli forces staged a limited pullback from reoccupied areas of Al Khalil, which was divided into Israeli- and Palestinian-controlled sectors under a 1997 interim peace deal.—AFP\Reuters