Jerusalem, Israel - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Friday to respond with vengeance after an Israeli was killed alongside four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian health ministry said "four people were killed and four others wounded, including three in critical condition," during violence in the West Bank.
Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services reported that a man in his thirties was pronounced dead near the settlement of Havat Gilad. Two other victims, in their twenties, were evacuated by helicopter with gunshot wounds, one in a serious condition.
The Israeli military said it had deployed soldiers after reports of an attack against Israeli civilians who were hiking near Havat Gilad.
According to the military, the attackers seized the weapon of a member of the security forces who had arrived at the scene and opened fire on the hikers.
An AFP journalist said roadblocks had been set up around the scene, while the military said it was still searching for the attackers.
"We will act with full force against the terrorists and those who dispatch them, and we will not allow terrorism in Judea and Samaria to rear its head," Netanyahu promised in a statement posted to X.
Violence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, has surged since Netanyahu launched a bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 70,000 and been ruled by the UN to be a genocide.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
Official Israeli figures show at least 47 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in the West Bank since the Gaza genocide began.
According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1094 Palestinians, mostly civilians, over the same period.