TEL AVIV, Israel — A Palestinian attacker opened fire at the entrance to an upscale Jewish settlement in the West Bank, killing three Israeli men and critically wounding a fourth, authorities said.
The suspect was also fatally shot during the incident at Har Adar, police spokesman Luba Samri said.
The gunman had passed Israeli military security checks, which review Palestinians’ family connections and criminal records, to receive a permit to work in settlements in the West Bank and Israel itself, police told NBC News.
The 37-year-old suspect blended in with Palestinian day laborers entering the gated community, officials said.
Between 100 and 150 Palestinians — mostly construction workers and cleaners — have jobs in Har Adar, according to Shay Retter, the head of the settlement’s security committee.
Har Adar is west of Jerusalem and on the seam line between the West Bank and Israel proper.
Jewish settlements in the West Bank are a contentious issue because Palestinians see the area, which Israel has occupied since 1967, as integral to a future state.
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The unemployment rate in the West Bank is high and work on the settlements provides vital income to thousands of Palestinians laborers.
Since September 2015, Palestinians have killed 48 Israelis, two visiting Americans and a British tourist in stabbings, shooting and car-ramming attacks.
During that same time, Israeli forces have killed more than 255 Palestinians; Israel says most of them were attackers, others died in clashes with Israeli forces. Most of the attacks have been stabbings against security forces, primarily in the West Bank.
The attack comes as U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt is scheduled to arrive in Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in hopes of reviving peace talks.