Israeli policewoman dies after gunman opens fire

Rescue workers carry a wounded person away from a Jerusalem bus stop where police say a gunman opened fire Monday.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An Israeli policewoman died Tuesday of wounds she received when a gunman opened fire at a bus stop in a Jewish neighborhood on the northern edge of Jerusalem, police said. Nine other people were wounded, one of them seriously.

The policewoman who died was one of three officers hurt in the shooting, authorities said.

Police said they shot and wounded the gunman, whom they took into custody. He was taken to a hospital where hospital officials said they could not give out any details on his condition because of a court order.

Police initially believed there may have been a second gunman, but after an investigation, they said only one gunman took part in the attack.

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The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al Aqsa has launched a series of bombings and terror attacks in recent months.

Fatah is the mainstream faction and Palestinian nationalist movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization. It is dedicated to the formation of an independent Palestinian state.

The shooting followed the deaths of four other people in three separate incidents Monday in the West Bank.

Two Israelis were shot dead and two others wounded Monday afternoon when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on their car south of Bethlehem, Israeli security sources said.

A pregnant Israeli woman who was wounded in the shooting gave birth by Caesarean section Monday. A fourth Israeli, said to be a young girl, was slightly injured.

Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian woman who rushed toward them at a military checkpoint near the West Bank town of Tulkarem wielding a knife, Israeli military sources said. As the woman ran toward the soldiers, she was ordered to stop, and warning shots were fired into the air before they fired at her, according to the sources.

Earlier Monday, at another checkpoint, a Palestinian man -- rushing his pregnant wife to the hospital -- was shot and killed when he tried to run an Israeli military checkpoint in a car near Nablus, according to the Israeli army and the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The woman also was wounded but later delivered a baby girl, the Red Crescent said.

Israel has increased checkpoint security measures after Palestinian militant incursions into Israel in recent weeks. Six Israeli soldiers were shot and killed at a checkpoint ambush last week.

Monday's violence also comes amid news that Israeli officials are exploring a Saudi peace proposal that would involve Arab recognition of Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories. (Full story)

Also Monday, Arafat said Palestinians would resume security talks with Israel and the United States on Tuesday, with the aim of reducing violence in the region. (Full story)