Israeli, Palestinian killed in West Bank as peace breaks down

An Israeli was killed and two others wounded in a shooting near the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, the Israeli army said.
The incident at the start of the Jewish Passover holiday was the first deadly attack on an Israeli in the occupied West Bank since the start of the year, and came as tensions were soaring over the near-breakdown of US-brokered peace talks.
"Fire was opened at Israeli civilian vehicles on Route 35, near Hebron, and we're conducting widespread searches for the perpetrators... An Israeli civilian was killed in the attack," a spokeswoman told AFP.
A separate army statement said two other Israelis were wounded.
Israelis in another car said they saw a man wearing a helmet and firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle on the side of the road, it said.
Dozens of army vehicles fanned out into nearby Palestinian villages, and a security barrier was erected at the main entrance to Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, according to an AFP photographer.
The flashpoint city of Hebron is home to nearly 200,000 Palestinians. There are some 80 settler homes in the centre of town housing about 700 Jews who live under Israeli army protection.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, earlier, a Palestinian woman died of Israeli teargas on Monday during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, a medical source said.
Noha Qatamesh, 45, suffocated from teargas fired by Israeli forces in the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem, the source told Anadolu Agency.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces used teargas canisters and rubber bullets during the clashes with Palestinian protesters.
It remains unclear the cause of the clashes.
On Sunday, Israeli police arrested five people after Palestinians clashed with security forces at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Nine Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since January 1 in the West Bank, where around 350,000 Israelis live in settlements considered illegal by the international community.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have meanwhile been trying to save collapsing US-backed peace talks, and were scheduled to meet again Wednesday with US envoy Martin Indyk.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to encourage them to keep alive the faltering peace process.
Ban spoke to the pair individually by telephone on Sunday, amid fears the US-backed peace talks are close to collapse.
The United Nations chief "strongly encouraged both sides to continue to negotiate constructively," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday.
He also "expressed the hope that the two leaders seize the opportunity offered by US efforts to find a way to move towards a two-state solution," Dujarric added.