Two Teenage Hikers Killed In West Bank

Two teenage Israeli hikers were shot to death Tuesday in a scenic West Bank canyon between Jerusalem and Jericho in an attack the army said was carried out by Palestinian militants.

An army spokesman said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had claimed responsibility, and Israel Radio reported that graffiti signed by the group were found at the scene. The PFLP, a radical leftist movement, opposes the self-rule accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

It was the first fatal Palestinian attack on Israelis since April and followed a lull in militant violence as Israel and the PLO have negotiated an expansion of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank.