The Israeli army announced on Saturday it was deploying an additional battalion to reinforce the Hebron area following the uptick in violence around the city.
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Earlier Sunday, an assailant believed to be Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli officer in a West Bank settlement before being shot by forces at the scene, the army said.
Local officials said the attacker had tried to infiltrate the settlement of Efrat and a manhunt was underway before he pounced on the officer and stabbed him.
Since October, 227 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, one Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. In response to the immediate threat, forces fired at assailant.
The assailant in Sunday’s attack was shot in the dead after stabbing the Israeli officer patrolling near the entrance to Efrat, located in the Etzion bloc. Both were reportedly taken to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Karem.
Four Palestinians, one of whom held Jordanian citizenship, were shot dead over the weekend during assaults on Israelis, according to Israeli authorities.
The attacks, a vehicle ramming, three stabbings, and rock and bottle throwing, came after a seeming downturn in the violence against Israelis that began with the Rosh Hashanah holiday a year ago. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air raids on Gaza.
PLO Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi strongly condemned the killings Saturday morning, calling Israeli actions “extra-judicial killings”.
Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a leading cause of the violence.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the potential for violence could rise at the Jewish high holidays approach.
