Israeli man dies of wounds sustained in West Bank attack

JERUSALEM, March 18 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli man injured in a West bank shooting attack succumbed to his wounds on Monday, raising the attack's death toll to two.

Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, 47, died of his wounds in hospital, a spokesperson with the Rabin Medical Center, where Ettinger was hospitalized, said.

A Palestinian man shot him on Sunday outside the settlement of Ariel, southeast of Nablus city in the northern West bank. The assailant stabbed a soldier, took his assault rifle and shoot civilians and soldiers.

He also killed Staff Sgt. Gal Keidan, 19, and seriously injured another soldier. The latter is still in hospital in a critical condition, doctors in the Rabin Medical Center said.

The attacker then fled the scene, prompting a large-scale manhunt by Israeli security forces.

Overnight, Israeli forces arrested the father and the brother of the assailant, local media reported.

"Simultaneously, the forces continue to carry out operational and intelligence efforts in order to locate and apprehend the assailant," the statement added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday that Israel will find the assailant and deal with him "to the fullest extent of the law as we have done in all of the recent incidents."

The attacks came amid heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestine with two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West bank in two separate incidents last week.

The settlements are located on lands which Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East war.

The last round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014.