Palestinian killed by Israeli troops in alleged stabbing attack

Israel's army said they shot dead a Palestinian youth in the West Bank on Saturday after he stabbed a soldier, the latest in a string of fatal incidents over the weekend.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that the incident occurred during routine security checks at a checkpoint in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the flashpoint city of Hebron.

"An assailant, armed with a knife, stabbed an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldier," the statement read.

Soldiers responded with fire, killing the alleged stabber.

The man was later identified as Haytham al-Shaloudi, a 25-year-old resident of Hebron.

According to local media, the stabbed soldier sustained light wounds and was taken to hospital.

The IDF Spokesperson's Unit released a photo of a kitchen knife with a blade of about 11 cm (about 4.5 inches) in size, identifying it as the weapon used to stab the soldier.

It was the fifth alleged attack on Israelis in less than 24 hours. On Friday morning, the police said they shot and killed a Jordanian citizen after he allegedly tried to stab police officers outside East Jerusalem's Old City.

Later, Israeli army sources said soldiers killed a Palestinian and critically wounded his wife near the southern West Bank city of Hebron after they attempted to drive over Israeli settlers.

Also in the Hebron area, soldiers killed a 21-year-old man from the Beit Ula village. Local media said the youth was shot as he was trying to escape an arrest by the military.

A year-long spate of violence in Israel and the West Bank has killed at least 230 Palestinians and 34 Israelis.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than five million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their own state.

Source : XINHUA