JERUSALEM, July 21 (Xinhua) -- A knife-wielding Palestinian man sneaked into a West Bank settlement home, killing three Israelis and seriously injuring another on Friday night before he was shot, Israeli officials said.
The incident took place in the settlement of Halamish, north of Ramallah city, the military said in a statement.
The assailant managed to enter the guarded settlement, and sneaked into a house when ten family members were inside having dinner, the statement said.
A man in his forties and two women in their sixties and forties succumbed to their wounds at the scene, said a spokesperson with the emergency medical service. The fourth person, a 60-year-old woman, was evacuated to a hospital with moderate injuries.
Another woman hid several children in a back room before a soldier on vacation heard screams, arrived and shot the assailant.
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson's unit released a photo from the scene showing a blood-stained kitchen floor.
The condition of the stabber was not immediately clear. A military statement said he was "shot and neutralized." A later report on Walla news site said he sustained moderate injuries and an ambulance evacuated him to a hospital in Israel.
Palestinian media identified him as Omar Abd al-Jalil, an 18-year-old from the village of Kuber in the Ramallah district.
A screenshot of a Facebook post reportedly posted by al-Jalil indicates that he attributed the attack to the recent measures imposed by Israel in one of East Jerusalem's most volatile holy sites.
"I have many dreams and I believe they will come true," he wrote. "I love life and I love to make others happy, but what is my life when women and children are being murdered and when our Al-Aqsa (Mosque) is being stained?"
The attack came at the end of a deadly day that saw the death of three Palestinian youths during protests over metal detectors installed by Israel in the holy compound. At least 367 more Palestinians were injured, according to the Red Crescent.
Anger across East Jerusalem and the West Bank boiled after Israel limited Muslim access to the compound on Friday, allowing only women and men over 50 to enter.
The detectors are perceived by the Palestinians as a violation of the status quo at the volatile site, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
