West Bank Israeli Shot to Death; Curfew Imposed

An Israeli civilian was fatally shot in the back by an unknown assailant in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus today, officials said.

An official at the Tel Hashomer Hospital outside Tel Aviv said the man died several hours after being hospitalized. He declined to identify the victim.

Israeli military sources said the man worked as a civilian employee of the army in Nablus, a predominately Arab city, and lived in the northern Israeli town of Afula, where anti-Arab violence broke out last week following the terrorist killing of two Israeli teachers.

Large police forces were dispatched to Afula to stop disturbances that broke out when news of the shooting reached the town, Israel army radio reported.

The sources said a curfew was imposed on the Nablus neighborhood where the attack took place and residents were confined to their homes while searches for the assailant were conducted.