Tulkarem, West Bank ? A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up Thursday, killing an Israeli army officer and two other Palestinians after Israeli soldiers ordered him to remove his overcoat at a West Bank checkpoint set up specifically to foil the attack.

The Arabic satellite station Al-Arabiya reported that Syrian-backed militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing. The report could not be confirmed, but the group earlier this week rebuffed Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ appeal for an end to suicide bombings and rocket attacks.

In increasingly chaotic Gaza, meanwhile, Palestinian police were searching for a British human rights worker and her parents, kidnapped at gunpoint Wednesday in the southern Gaza town of Rafah – and a gunfight erupted between two feuding families in Gaza City. A policeman and one of the family members were killed, hospital officials said.

The suicide bombing took place just south of the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, about two miles inside the West Bank. The army had set up roadblocks in the area shortly after receiving warnings that a suicide bomber was headed toward Israel.

The army said the bomber, an accomplice and the taxi driver were killed, along with a 21-year-old Israeli army officer, Lt. Uri Binamo. Seven Palestinians and three soldiers were wounded.

Palestinians identified the attacker as Ala a-Sadi, a 23-year-old Palestinian police officer from the northern West Bank town of Jenin whose family had links to Islamic Jihad. No militant group released the name of the bomber, as has been the practice in the past.

Palestinians flee as gunfire erupts between Palestinian police and gunmen next to the police headquarters at Shejaiya neighborhood in Gaza City. According to witnesses, the gunman, whose relative was arrested by the police, arrived at the police station demanding his release. A police officer was killed Thursday in the exchange.