JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel’s military said its troops shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian on Tuesday who tried to stab a soldier at the entrance to a village near the West Bank city of Hebron.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the Palestinian as 16-year-old Issa Tarayreh of the village of Bani Naim.
The Israeli military said it has imposed restrictions on movement in and out of the village since Friday, when a Palestinian from the village rammed his car into Israeli civilians in the West Bank. The army initially imposed a complete closure on the village, except for humanitarian cases, and since Sunday has prohibited Palestinians between the ages of 15 and 30 from leaving.
A recent surge in Palestinian attacks has shattered weeks of relative calm. Israeli forces have killed six alleged attackers since the weekend, raising fears of a return to near-daily attacks often seen over the past year.
Israel has beefed up the police presence in Jerusalem and sent troop reinforcements to the West Bank. The Hebron area, where several Jewish settlements exist in close proximity to Palestinian communities, has been a particular flashpoint.