Two Palestinians Fatally Shot After Attack on Israeli Soldier in West Bank

Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinians after they stabbed a soldier on Sunday near at a West Bank checkpoint, the military said.

According to the Palestinians’ Maan News Agency, Palestinians say Israel still has possession of some 50 bodies of terrorists killed during attacks over the past three months, some one-third from the Hebron area, which saw the highest share of attacks.

A Ma’an reporter identified the Palestinians as Muhammad Rafiq Hussien Sabana, 17, and Noor al-Deen Muhammad Abdul-Qadir Sabana, 23.

Two Palestinians attacked an Israeli soldier and were shot dead.

20 Israelis have also been killed.

All three Palestinians were killed during the attacks.

Earlier on Sunday, a 30-year-old Israeli Arab stabbed and moderately wounded an IDF soldier near the central bus station in Jerusalem, before he was overpowered by security guards and police.

A wave of violence since the start of October has claimed the lives of 133 people on the Palestinian side, 19 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

In the past 12 weeks Israeli forces or armed civilians have killed at least 126 Palestinians, 77 of whom authorities described as assailants.

Tensions have dramatically escalated since the Israeli regime’s imposition of restrictions in August on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

A Palestinian man weeps during them funeral of Hani Wahdan, 22, at his family house in Gaza City, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015.

One Israeli soldier received stab wounds to the face, while the other was shot in the leg by Israeli forces who opened fire on the attackers, according to Israeli media. The Palestinians say it is rooted in frustrations stemming from almost five decades of Israeli occupation.

The latest round of U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2014.

Israeli leaders says Islamist groups who call for the destruction of Israel have played a major role in inciting the recent violence.