British tourist shot dead in Eliat

A man and woman from Britain were attacked near Eliat in Israel yesterday, killing the man and wounding the woman.

The dead man is Max Hunter, 22, and the wounded woman who was traveling with him to Israel was Charlotte Gibb. They were found on the side of the road.

The woman underwent surgery at Soroka hospital in Beersheba, and the officials said she was in fair condition with wounds to her arm and hand.

The police and the security set up searches at military points to look after the killer, suspected to be an Israeli Arab, based on Gibb's description.

"We went to Eliat and we asked the driver to stop the car in order to smoke a cigarette outside the car... and then I just saw some flashes and heard shots," Gibb said.

Hunter's father said his son had gone to Israel to work on a Kibbutz for six months. "Max never felt he'd be in danger and being in Israel he felt he would be safe," he said from the family home in England.