Israeli settler bludgeoned to death in West Bank

BROSH, Palestinian Territories: Suspected Palestinian militants bludgeoned to death a settler on Friday in the third killing of Israelis in the West Bank in as many weeks, police said, prompting calls to suspend peace talks. The wife of the murdered man, a retired army colonel, was also injured in the night-time attack on their home at the settlement of Brosh in the northern Jordan Valley. The attack was followed by calls from rightwing Israeli MPs for the suspension of low profile peace talks between the two sides and of the expected release of more Palestinian prisoners. Army radio named the dead man as Sarya Ofer, a former commander of Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and of various special forces units.