"Two policemen who were travelling in the Jordan Valley were shot dead. According to the initial investigation it is an attack," Rosenfeld told AFP. He said the attack took place near the Jewish settlement of Massua in the northern Jordan Valley.An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the "Imad Mughniyeh Group" in a telephone call to AFP. The group is named after Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh who was killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus in February 2008 that was blamed on Israel. The Jewish state denied any involvement.
Police and the army sent reinforcements to the area where the attack took place and troops had launched search operations in a bid to track down the assailants, Rosenfeld said.
The website of Haaretz newspaper reported that one of the policemen was killed on the spot and that the other died of his wounds shortly after the arrival of emergency services. Their car was found on Highway 90 which skirts the border with Jordan to the east.
According to police, the driver of the car lost control of the vehicle after he was hit by gunfire.
The Jordan Valley shares a 70-kilometre (43-mile) border with Jordan and represents a third of the West Bank which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.