4 Israelis killed in West Bank as peace summit nears

As Israeli and Palestinian leaders headed to Washington for a much-anticipated peace summit, four Israelis were killed Tuesday near the disputed West Bank city of Hebron after their vehicle came under fire from unidentified gunmen.

The militant Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, later took responsibility for the attack.

Drive-by shootings on the roads near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba adjoining Hebron and the Gush Etzion settlement block to the north are not uncommon, though Tuesday’s attack was one of the deadliest in months. In June, a police officer was killed and two others were wounded when their vehicle came under fire.

Hebron has long been a volatile area. Several hundred nationalist Israelis live in a tightly guarded settlement surrounded by more than 150,000 Palestinians.

The victims — two men and two women — were not identified. One of the women was pregnant, Israeli media reported.

The timing of the attack appeared to be linked to the Thursday meeting in Washington between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who are resuming direct negotiations for the first time in 20 months. The Obama administration will host the initial talks.

“This is an apparent attempt by lowly terrorists to sabotage the attempt to achieve a diplomatic process and to try to hurt the chances of the talks opening in Washington,” said Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a statement, adding that Israel would “exact a price” for the killings.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said in a statement, “We condemn this operation, which contradicts the Palestinian interest and efforts by the Palestinian leaders to gain international support for the rights of our people.”

Opponents of the U.S.-sponsored talks, including Palestinian militants and right-wing Jewish groups, have been accused of trying to spoil the atmosphere for negotiations.

edmund.sanders@latimes.com