Young Israeli killed in West Bank stabbing attack

Closed-circuit television footage on YNet of the stabbing showed the two young Palestinian women, their right arms raised and making stabbing gestures, advancing on the sidewalk toward a man who then appeared to draw a handgun. Two others were hurt in the afternoon attack.

On Friday, dozens of Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire in clashes in the West Bank and along the Gaza Strip border, while on Saturday, police arrested a Palestinian who allegedly stabbed four Israelis in southern city Kiryat Gat.

Israeli forces have killed two more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as Tel Aviv’s acts of aggression continue in the territory.

The PA also said Israelis have planted knives next to the bodies of dead Palestinians to support its allegations that it was killing assailants mid-attack.

The attack was the first one in the current terror wave carried out by a Palestinian from the West Bank with legal permits to work in Israel.

A 27-year-old bystander was lightly wounded in the attack, apparently from bullet shrapnel, police said, according to AP.

The soldier who was killed, in his 20s, was pronounced dead by paramedics on the scene after making intensive efforts to resuscitate him, Magen David Adom emergency ambulance service said. Israel bristled at those remarks, saying shooting attackers was self-defence.

In recent weeks, however, the violence had moved away from Jerusalem and its holy sites, to other Israeli centers and Palestinian areas in the West Bank such as Hebron.

“This is not the terrorism of organizations, this is terrorism by individuals, sometimes with knives, incited mainly by social media”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.

Meanwhile in the northern West Bank, a motorist hit an Israeli near the Shavei Shomron settlement in what may have been a deliberate attack, the army said.

On a visit to the West Bank on Monday, Netanyahu didn’t suggest he was adopting a softer approach. The Palestinians say the violence is rooted in frustration over almost a half-century of occupation and they accuse Israel of using excessive force to suppress the unrest.

There is also little optimism he will be able to convince the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to resume peace talks, which broke down more than 18 months ago. Israel has repeatedly denied such claims.

But his words have had little impact on the ground. A ricochet injured a Israeli passerby, medics said.