Two Palestinians stabbed two women Monday at a grocery in an Israeli settlement of the West Bank before being shot dead, police and medics said, in the latest in nearly four months of attacks. Israel's military said two pipe bombs were also found in the area and were being defused.
One of the women, 23, was said by Israeli medics to be in critical condition after the incident in Beit Horon settlement, north-west of Jerusalem. The other, a 58-year-old, was in moderate condition.
The two Palestinians were shot dead by security guards, Israeli police said, adding one was in his early 20s and the other a teenager.
The attack was the third inside a West Bank settlement since January 17, when an Israeli woman was stabbed to death at the entrance to her home in Otniel. Israeli authorities arrested a 15-year-old Palestinian over that killing.
The following day, a pregnant woman was stabbed and wounded in the Tekoa settlement. The 17-year-old Palestinian assailant was shot by security personnel and taken to hospital in serious condition.
A wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks erupted in October, and many of the assailants have been young people, including teenagers.
Until recently, most of the attacks had occurred in public places such as checkpoints, junctions and entrances to Jerusalem's Old City.