Jerusalem: Three Israelis have been shot and killed, and a fourth wounded, in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, Israeli army radio reported.

The station interviewed a resident of Har Adar, an illegal settlement near Jerusalem, who said the gunman had arrived with a group of Palestinian labourers and opened fire on paramilitary Israeli police guards, reports Al-Jazeera.

The gunman, identified as a 37-year-old man from Beit Surik, a Palestinian village near Har Adar, was shot and killed after the attack, according to Israeli police.

The man, who reportedly carried a work permit for the settlement, approached the checkpoint at the entrance to Har Adar, when he started shooting at the guards, police said.

Har Adar is an upscale settlement west of Jerusalem, on the border between the West Bank and Israel.

Since September 2015, Palestinians have killed 48 Israelis, two visiting Americans and a British tourist in stabbings, shooting and car-ramming attacks.

During that same time, Israeli forces have killed over 255 Palestinians; Israel says most of them were attackers, others died in clashes with Israeli forces.

Most of the attacks have been stabbings against Israeli soldiers, primarily in the occupied West Bank.