Israeli forces hunt soldier killer

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israeli forces were hunting the assailant behind an attack that killed a soldier at an east Jerusalem checkpoint, authorities said Sunday, hours after two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead in an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army said a soldier had been "killed as a result of being critically injured by a shooting attack" that police said had taken place at a checkpoint in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem near Shuafat Palestinian refugee camp.

Another Israeli had been "severely injured," police said, and a third person, whose nationality was not specified, was hit by "shrapnel" in the incident, according to emergency services group Magen David Adom, which said all gunshot victims were in their 20s.

Police cordoned off the area near the checkpoint and dozens of officers had been deployed at the entrance and exit of east Jerusalem, while the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics were being prevented from entering the refugee camp.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid described the shooting as a "severe" attack.

"My heart is with the wounded and their families this evening. Terror will not defeat us, we are strong even on this difficult evening," he said in a statement.