国际英语新闻：Four Israelis killed in shooting attack near Hebron

JERUSALEM, Aug. 31(Xinhua) -- Four Israelis were killed in a shooting attack near the West Bank town of Hebron on Tuesday, an Israeli army spokeswoman told Xinhua.

A military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At around 7 p.m. (1700 GMT), gunmen, possibly in a passing vehicle, opened fire on four civilians -- two men aged 25 and 40 respectively, and two women of similar ages, one of them pregnant - - traveling in a vehicle near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The gunmen stopped nearby after spraying the vehicle with gunfire, and repeatedly shot the victims at close range, according to Israel's Channel 10 television.

Medical sources said that the victims are a couple who lived in the nearby settlement of Beit Hagai, and two hitchhikers.

Israeli soldiers block a road which leads to the Jewish settlement of Kyriat Arba after four Israelis were shot dead nearby, near Hebron in West Bank Aug. 31, 2010. The Israeli media had reported that four Israelis, including two women, one of them pregnant, were killed on Tuesday night when gunmen opened fire on their car at the entrance to the settlement of Kiryat Arba. The armed wing of the Islamic Hamas movement claimed responsibility for the shooting attack.

Large Israeli army and police forces spread out in hot pursuit of the gunmen, and used a helicopter in the chase. Roadblocks have been erected throughout the area in hopes of capturing the assailants.

The shooting, appearing to be a planned ambush, happened on the eve of a would-be breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington D.C. to attend a U.S.-proposed peace summit, which is slated to kick off on Thursday.

Israeli officials said Netanyahu has been alerted of the shooting, en route to the White House for direct talks on Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Netanyahu conferred with Defense Minister Ehud Barak from his plane, which is expected to land in Washington in several hours.

Abbas was reportedly meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when the attack took place.

Neither leader has yet released a statement in response to the deadly shooting.

Israeli residents in the area told Xinhua that they have noted an increased police and military presence, including temporary roadblocks and inspections of passing Palestinian vehicles in the last week.