Israel hits back after pregnant settler killed

ISRAEL'S military killed five Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, hours after a pregnant settler was killed in a shooting, as hardline pro-settler leaders, including a government minister, called for Palestinian towns to be razed.

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The military said it had killed five “terrorists” and arrested a sixth who had barricaded themselves in a building in Tamoun, following an exchange of gunfire and the use of shoulder-fired missiles by Israeli soldiers.

The military wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad later issued a statement saying five of its members were killed while clashing with Israeli forces that surrounded their house in the town of Tamoun, north of the West Bank.

Tamoun is a Palestinian town about 35km from the Israeli settlement of Brukhin, near which the heavily pregnant woman, Tzeela Gez, was killed on Wednesday night in a shooting that drew strong condemnation from Israeli leaders.

The military said it was searching for those responsible for Wednesday's shooting, although it was not clear whether the Tamoun operation was linked.