Married couple among dead in West Bank attack

More violence as peace efforts continue in U.S.

Israeli soldiers prepare to search the area of the settlement of Karmei Tsur near Hebron after Saturday's shooting

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Three Israelis were killed and five others wounded Saturday in an attack by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank settlement of Karmei Tsur, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Two settlers -- a pregnant woman and her husband -- were killed in the attack, the IDF said. Another man died later, military sources said. And Palestinian gunmen struck again late Saturday, wounding four Israelis outside the Jewish settlement of Yitzar, near Nablus.

The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz identified the settlers as Staff Sgt. Eyal Shorek and his wifeYael, who was nine months pregnant. Ha'aretz identified the third victim as 1st. Sgt. Maj. Shalom Mordechai, a reservist stationed at the settlement.

Security officers at the settlement returned fire, killing one of the gunmen. The Israeli army is searching for the second, who escaped.

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The Associated Press, quoting military sources, said the gunmen sprayed bullets that ripped through a cluster of mobile homes. After daybreak, reporters could see soldiers carrying a stretcher with a body wrapped in a white blanket. Another body lay covered by a red blanket. A trailer door was punctured by bullets, and blood was smeared on a nearby wall.

Settlement spokeswoman Esty Uliel barred reporters from speaking to residents on Saturday, citing the sanctity of the Jewish Sabbath, according to AP.

Newcomers awaiting permanent housing live in the trailers. The mobile home neighborhood is named after Shmuel Gilles, a Karmei Tsur resident who was killed in a Palestinian attack on his car last year.

Hours later, four Israeli soldiers were wounded -- two seriously -- when a Palestinian gunman attacked their barracks in the Jewish settlement of Yitzar, near Nablus in the West Bank, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.

The soldiers returned fire, killing the gunman, the IDF said. Initially, the IDF reported two gunmen were killed, but the spokesman's statement issued Sunday reported only one.

The attacks came as peace efforts were under way in the United States. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged President Bush to set a date for the creation of a Palestinian state when the two leaders met at Camp David, Maryland, on Saturday, but Bush said Saturday that he is not yet ready to outline a specific timetable. (Full story)

In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was on his way to the United States this weekend for meetings with Bush on Monday.

In a separate incident, an explosive device detonated near the southern border crossing between Gaza and Israel, killing two Palestinians believed to be planting or constructing the bomb, the army said.

In other violence Saturday, an Israeli naval patrol killed an armed Palestinian in northern Gaza near the Jewish settlement of Dugit, the Israeli army said.

The naval force had identified two Palestinians, who they believed were terrorists, and shot in their direction, the army said. They found a body with a bag containing several weapons, including four hand grenades and a machine gun, the IDF said. It was unclear what happened to the second Palestinian.

The clashes came after another week of deadly confrontations and attacks in the region, including a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 17 Israelis on Wednesday. Israeli forces retaliated by launching an attack on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.