Three Israeli police killed in West Bank shooting

Three Israeli police officers were killed on Sunday when their vehicle came under fire near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said.

The military confirmed the attack in the area of the Idna Tarqumiyah Junction, saying that security forces were searching for the assailants.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have been carrying out raids across the West Bank since last Wednesday in one of their largest actions in the area in months, which Israel says is aimed at rooting out Islamist militants.

The operation has drawn international calls for a halt.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said three policemen had been in the vehicle and were killed in Sunday's attack.

"We are fighting on all fronts against a cruel enemy who wants to murder us all," Netanyahu said, also referring to six Israeli hostages killed in captivity in Gaza and whose bodies were recovered from a tunnel on Sunday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a hardline member of Israel's security cabinet, called for more action against Palestinian fighters in the West Bank.

"We need to do now what we didn't do that awful night and launch a pre-emptive strike and strike hard," he said, referring to Hamas' deadly October 7 attack on Israel.