Acid attack on Israeli motorists

A Palestinian threw acid at an Israeli family in their car who had stopped to give him a ride in the West Bank on Friday, the Israeli army said.

Afterwards a passer-by shot the attacker in his leg. He was subsequently arrested by police and taken to hospital under custody.

The family, a man with four children, stopped to pick up the would-be hitchhiker near a checkpoint outside Bethlehem and close to the Gush Etzion settlement area, the army added in a statement.

The Israelis were also taken to the hospital and emergency services confirmed that they had suffered light wounds, an AFP photographer said.

Growing tensions after the death of the Palestinian minister

The incident came at a time of high tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where a senior Palestinian official died in a confrontation with Israeli troops on Wednesday.

The Palestinian leadership blamed Israel for Ziad Abu Ein's death and threatened a response.

Israeli ministers have called for calm, and US Secretary of State John Kerry is to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Rome on Sunday as part of efforts to ease tensions.

Acid attacks are rare in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Over the past four months, 10 Israelis and a foreign visitor have been killed by Palestinians in knife or car-based attacks. At least a dozen Palestinians have also been killed, including most of those who carried out the killings.

ra/ipj (AFPE, APE)