Israeli forces kill Palestinian

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian who attempted to stab a soldier at a crossing in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the army said, with no injuries reported among Israelis.

"A short while ago an assailant, armed with a knife, attempted to stab an (Israeli) soldier at a crossing adjacent to Tulkarem," an army statement said.

"Responding to the imminent threat, forces fired towards the attacker, resulting in his death."

A wave of Palestinian gun, knife and car-ramming attacks erupted in October 2015, though the violence has greatly declined in recent months.

Since October 2015, 250 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities, with others killed during protests, in clashes or air raids on Gaza.

Israel blames incitement by Palestinian leaders and media as a leading cause of violence.

Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, comatose peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest.

A conference in Paris last weekend including around 70 countries reiterated support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

There have been growing warnings the chances of reaching a resolution based on two states are gradually slipping away.

Peace efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Donald Trump, who will be sworn in as US president on Friday, has signalled strong support for Israel and has spoken of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

The Palestinians have warned recognising the contested city as Israel's capital would spell the end of the two-state solution.

Source :AFP