Two Palestinians killed following stabbing of Israeli soldier

Israeli forces have shot and killed two Palestinians, including one who stabbed a soldier, in the latest in a string of clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Police said a 23-year-old Palestinian man stabbed a soldier in the head, wounding him lightly, and then attempted to stab another security officer before forces shot and killed him.

The Palestinian approached soldiers at a checkpoint as clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops erupted nearby, police added.

Later, forces shot and killed another Palestinian who the military said attempted to stab an Israeli soldier.

However, a Palestinian witness at the scene challenged the Israeli account, saying he had not seen a knife. 

Palestinians have repeatedly accused the army of using unnecessary or excessive force, a charge that Israel denies.

Hebron, where several hundred nationalist Israeli settlers live in fortified enclaves amid tens of thousands of Palestinians, has become a focus of clashes in recent days following six weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Justice Ministry said an Arab woman who was shot after brandishing a knife at a busy bus station did not intend to carry out an attack.

Asraa Abed, 29, was surrounded by Israeli forces and then shot after she drew a knife at a bus station in northern Israel earlier this month.

The Justice Ministry said an investigation determined the woman was mentally unstable and suicidal and had pulled out the knife in order to be shot and killed.

Ms Abed, who survived the shooting, was indicted on Thursday for carrying a knife.

The incident was caught on video, which showed her slowly waving the knife before she is surrounded and shot.

The current wave of violence began in mid-September in Jerusalem amid tensions over a sensitive holy site and quickly spread deeper into Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Eleven Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, while 58 Palestinians have been killed – 38 of them said by Israel to be attackers, and the remainder killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Israel says the outburst of violence is the result of Palestinian incitement. But Palestinians say it is the result of frustration stemming from nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation.