The Israeli army will tighten control of the West Bank after three Israelis were killed and three others wounded Sunday afternoon when Palestinians opened fire at a hitchhiking station at the West Bank's Gush Etzion junction, south of Jerusalem.

Shortly after the attack, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz convened a meeting of high-level security officials.

It was reported that Israeli troops will redeploy around West Bank cities and limit Palestinian movement on main roads via checkpoints and other means.

Exits from the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Hebron will be blocked, Palestinian cars will be banned from main West Bank roads, officials said on condition of anonymity.

"The Palestinians should know that what they won't do, we will, " Mofaz said before the meeting.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a string of phone talks Sunday evening with Mofaz, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Yuval Diskin, head of Shin Bet domestic security service, to discuss how Israel will response to the attack.

Government sources feared that the attack represented the beginning of the security deterioration in the West Bank, as armed groups attempt to transfer focus of attacks to the West Bank from the Gaza Strip, where Israel completed its withdrawal last month.

Source: Xinhua