Two Israelis driving along a road in the occupied West Bank have been shot and killed, the Israeli military has said.

The army said forces were scouring the area, near the Palestinian village of Beit Furik, located five miles southeast of Nablus, for the attacker.

Israeli media reported the attacker fired from a passing car.

Four children, aged between four months and nine years, were in the car during the attack and were lightly wounded.

"Palestinian terrorists opened fire on an Israeli family car, killing both parents," said Ofir Gendelman, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Luckily, their four kids, now orphans, were unharmed."

The Palestinian group Hamas praised the attack as a "heroic operation carried out by resistance fighters in the West Bank".

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The attack comes as tensions continue to flare between Israelis and Palestinians over the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

Over the past two weeks, Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police at the hilltop compound and unrest has spilled over to Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

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The compound in Jerusalem's Old City is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Tensions have been high in the West Bank, land Israel captured in a 1967 Middle East war that Palestinians want for a future state, during a period coinciding with the onset of major Jewish and Muslim holidays.