JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli soldiers shot dead a knife-wielding Palestinian who had tried to stab them on Sunday in the West Bank city of Hebron, the military said, in the latest violence of a bloody six-week spell. The military said the shooting took place during a violent riot and that no Israelis were harmed.
A series of Palestinian attacks began in mid-September over tensions surrounding a Jerusalem site and have since spread across Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. It has been accompanied by widespread unrest, including clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli troops.
In all, 11 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, mostly stabbings, and 68 Palestinians have died by Israeli fire, including 42 said by Israel to have been involved in attacks or attempted attacks.
Israel has blamed the Palestinian attacks on what it says is anti-Israel incitement by Palestinian political and religious leaders. Palestinians say the violence is largely driven by the hopelessness many Palestinians feel after nearly half a century of Israeli military rule, with no end in sight.
In recent days, Hebron has become a main flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian violence, with near-daily deadly confrontations at Israeli checkpoints that guard ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers in the center of the city. In these incidents, Palestinians have been shot dead after the military said they stabbed or tried to stab soldiers.