The blast occurred several hours after Israeli forces entered the West Bank city of Ramallah, 15kms north of the holy city, in the wake of Wednesday’s suicide attack which killed at least 20 Israelis in the city of Netanya.

SIX ISRAELIS KILLED: A Palestinian killed four Jewish settlers and wounded one seriously in a raid in the northern West Bank settlement of Elon Moreh on Thursday night before being shot dead.

This was followed early on Friday morning by the stabbing death of two Israelis in the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank attacker, claimed by Hamas as its member, entered a home and opened fire while settlers were celebrating the second night of the Jewish Passover holiday.

The man died of his wounds after barricading himself inside the settlement house where he killed the four people, an army spokesman said.

Troops found his body after blowing up a door to a room on the second floor where the guerilla had holed up during a four-hour standoff and fire exchange with the army.

Hamas officials in the nearby Palestinian self-rule city of Nablus claimed responsibility for the slayings in Elon Moreh.

STABBED TO DEATH: In the Gaza incident, a Palestinian man stabbed two Israelis to death in a Jewish settlement before he was shot dead by soldiers, the Israeli army said.

An army spokesman said the Palestinian was shot to death after he emerged from a hiding place to attack a third person in the Netzarim settlement in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

The two dead Israelis were in their seventies and were visiting relatives, the army said, adding that they were on their way to pray in the settlement’s synagogue. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.—Reuters\AFP