MIDEAST Palestinians kill 3 Israelis in attack

A militant group claimed responsibility for the shootings.
GUSH ETZION, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on a crowded bus stop Sunday, killing three Israelis and wounding four others in the deadliest attack on Israelis in more than three months, Israeli officials said.
Minutes later, militants carried out a second drive-by shooting elsewhere in the West Bank, seriously wounding one Israeli, officials said.
Also Sunday, Israeli troops shot and killed an Islamic militant and seriously wounded a bystander in the West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
The violence was the worst since a July 12 suicide bombing in the northern Israeli town of Netanya killed five people. Israeli security officials have warned that following last month's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants would shift their focus to the West Bank.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group loosely affiliated with the ruling Fatah party, claimed responsibility for the shootings.
Israel responded with tough new measures limiting movement in the West Bank, security officials said. Exit from Bethlehem and Hebron will be blocked, Palestinian cars will be banned from the area and arrest raids will be increased, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
The decisions were made at high-level consultations led by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.
Support from Jordan
Amid the violence, Jordan's King Abdullah II promised Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday to continue rallying international support for Mideast peacemaking and offered him help to take control of Palestinian lands relinquished by Israel.
Abdullah, who met Abbas at a hilltop Amman palace, said Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip "must be followed by other withdrawals from the West Bank as stipulated in the road map" -- the U.S.-backed peace plan that envisions Palestinian statehood.
Abbas arrived in Jordan on Friday at the start of a tour that also takes him to Egypt, France, Spain and the United States, where he is scheduled to meet President Bush on Thursday.
What happened
The first attack Sunday took place at a main intersection in a bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem. Militants racing by in a car opened fire at people waiting at a bus stop and at others in nearby cars.
Israeli rescue services said one Israeli died at the scene and two others died in the hospital. Two were young women, cousins aged 23 and 21, from a nearby settlement and the other was a 15-year-old boy, Israeli media reported.
The second militant attack took place near the settlement of Eli in the northern West Bank, relatively far from the first shooting.
Israeli officials immediately condemned the attacks.
"Israel removed roadblocks and made a number of humanitarian gestures to ease up on the Palestinians," said David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office. "It's unfortunate that the Palestinians have exploited these measures to carry out these murderous attacks."