Two Israelis believed to be police officers were shot dead on a road in the West Bank on Sunday night, local media reported.

An initial probe found that the two were driving on a section of Highway 90 near the community of Massua in the Palestinian territory when gunfire was opened at them, which caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle before it overturned, said news service Ynet.

The two were critically wounded by the gunfire and the somersault, and rescue teams that rushed to the scene failed to save their lives, according to the report.

Meanwhile, local daily Ha'aretz said the victims were police officers on patrol in the nearby area and that police and rescue services were notified earlier in the night of both a car accident and a shooting attack in the area.

Following the fatal incident, military and police forces were dispatched to the scene in the Jordan Valley and closed the nearby area, and investigation is already underway.

No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting. Ha'aretz reported that preliminary police analysis indicated that the victims were attacked by one or more Palestinian gunmen from a passing car on the roadside.

"The two had been killed by gunshots and the main suspicion points to a nationalistic motive," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Shooting attacks along the roads have significantly decreased in recent years but are still occasionally reported. In January, a settler in the West Bank was seriously wounded when a gunman opened fire at his car on a highway near his settlement.

Earlier this month, two police officers were lightly wounded in Jerusalem when an Arab driver in a bulldozer overturned their car before he was shot. The attacker later died of his wounds.