Palestinian stabs Israeli in West Bank, is shot dead

At a checkpoint near Nablus, Israeli paramilitary police shot dead a Palestinian who they said had charged at them with a knife.

Palestinian media say Taha died following an army raid of the village of Qattana.

Ninety-seven Palestinians have been killed in violence since October 1, including an Israeli Arab.

Israeli medics said they were treating and evacuating to hospital a 20-year-old in serious condition with stab wounds to his torso.

Another Palestinian official, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, said on Voice of Palestine Radio that Abbas told Kerry that “Palestinians were the victims” and were only defending themselves against Israeli actions. There were however scant signs of major progress, and Netanyahu told him that civilian Palestinian projects would be allowed to advance only when Israel experienced a “return of the quiet”, an Israeli official said.

Israel is said to be reviewing the incident.

More than 4,000 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, which also resulted in the death of 19 Israelis, who were stabbed, shot or run over by vehicles.

In an effort to quell the violence, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon announced Wednesday that Israel will fortify an existing fence west of Hebron, a southern West Bank city that has been a flashpoint in the current unrest.

Israeli authorities are planning to annex the Jordan Valley into a completely Israeli area, primarily in agriculture, targeting to ban territorial contiguity between a future Palestinian state and the rest of the Arab world, according to Wafa News.

In the West Bank, Kerry said the situation for Palestinians is “very dire” and assured them the US wants to “help contribute to calm and to restore people’s confidence in the ability of a two-state solution to still be viable”.

Palestinian security officers carry the body of 16-year-old Ibrahim… He said Abbas’s official television station should be shuttered. Palestinians accuse Israel of using excessive force in suppressing violence.

Palestinians seek the recognition of their independent state on the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, partially occupied by Israel, as well as in the Gaza Strip.