Three gunmen who attacked a checkpoint near Jerusalem today, wounding six security forces, were killed as Israeli police fended them off, the Israeli police was quoted as saying by AFP.

National police chief Kobi Shabtai told reporters the attackers carried pistols, axes and ammunition for “a major attack or a massacre in Israel”.

Four members of the security services suffered gunshot wounds, including one who was critically injured, said the emergency medical service Magen David Adom in a statement, adding that two more were lightly wounded.