A crowd surrounds a bus where a man opened fire killing three people, in the northern Israeli town of Shfaram.
JERUSALEM, Aug. 4 - An Israeli Army deserter dressed in a military uniform opened fire today aboard a bus carrying Arab passengers in northern Israel. Four Arabs were killed and at least a dozen wounded before an angry crowd beat the gunman to death, according to Israeli authorities and witnesses.
The shooting was one of the deadliest by a Jewish extremist in recent years and appeared to be an attempt to sabotage Israel's planned evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, which is set to begin on Aug. 15.
The gunman was initially identified as Eden Tzuberi, 19, though the police later said his real name was Natan Zada. He went absent without leave from the army about a month ago after refusing to take part in preparations for the Gaza pullout, according to Israeli media reports and the police.
Mr. Zada had been living in Tapuach, one of the most radical Jewish settlements in the West Bank, according to the reports. But settler leaders denied that he was a resident of the settlement.
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, called the shootings "a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist who sought to attack innocent Israeli citizens."
In the run up to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, the Israeli security services have repeatedly expressed fears that radical Jews may carry out attacks against either Israeli leaders or Arabs in an attempt to sabotage the pullout.
Gideon Ezra, Israel's minister for public security, has spoken out in favor of detaining Jewish radicals without charge, saying such methods could prevent violence before and during the Gaza withdrawal.
Today's shooting, coming just 11 days before the Gaza evacuation is set to begin, is certain to further inflame passions on all sides.
"We are witnessing attempts by extreme right-wing people, terrorists, who want to set the region ablaze and feel they have freedom of action," Mohammed Barakeh, an Arab member of Israel's parliament, was quoted as saying by the Haaretz newspaper on its Web site.
Mr. Barakeh also described the gunman as a supporter of the Kach movement, which was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, the radical anti-Arab activist who was shot to death in New York in 1990.
While the Kach movement is outlawed in Israel, many residents of the Tapuach settlement are believed to be members or supporters.
Mr. Zada grew up in Rishon Letzion, a city in central Israel, south of Tel Aviv, but recently moved to Tapuach, according to the Israeli news reports.
The bearded gunman, who was wearing a skull cap that identified him as an Orthodox Jew, apparently boarded the bus in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and waited until it reached Shfaram, an Arab town several miles to the east.
When the bus reached the town, the bus driver asked to speak to the gunman and wanted to know if he had intended to come to the Arab town, according to Avtihaj Salameh, a passenger quoted by Haaretz.
The gunman then stood by the driver for several minutes before opening fire, according to the witness. A large crowd then charged the bus and attacked Mr. Zada, beating him to death, according to witnesses and media reports.
Israeli television showed footage of bodies on the side of the road, covered in sheets, and the broken windows of the bus.
Jewish extremists have carried out a number of attacks against Arabs in the past, but most were directed against Palestinians in the West Bank rather than Arabs who are citizens of Israel.
In the deadliest such attack, Baruch Goldstein, an American-born settler in the West Bank, fatally shot 29 Muslim worshippers in 1994 at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, a site holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians.
As the Gaza pullout approaches, right-wing Israelis have been holding mass protests against the withdrawal, though the latest effort fizzled today.
Thousands of protesters initially gathered Tuesday night in southern Israel and camped out in the community of Ofakim, with plans to march to the Jewish settlements in Gaza.
But the police kept the demonstrators in or near Ofakim, which is more than 10 miles from the Gaza border, and the remaining protesters dispersed today.
Some protesters said they managed to sneak into the Gaza settlements in recent days, though it has been declared off-limits to nonresidents.
The police arrested dozens of demonstrators attempting to reach the settlements. But the protest, like other mass rallies organized by right-wing protesters, was staged without any serious confrontations.
Bentzi Lieberman, the head of the main settler organization, the Yesha Council, condemned today's shooting in northern Israel.
"Murder is murder is murder, and there can be no other response but to denounce it completely and express revulsion," Mr. Lieberman said.
Earlier today, an estimated 10,000 Palestinians rallied outside their parliament building in Gaza City to celebrate the planned Israeli withdrawal.
Gunmen fired into the air, while others waved the Palestinian flag and danced in the street.
"After 38 years of ugly occupation, they are leaving and they will never come back," the Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, said of the Israelis.