Hebron, a powder keg in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is a city where some 500 Israeli settlers live among Palestinians behind barbed-wire, observation towers and under army protection.
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“A terrorist carried out a stabbing attack in Efrat and wounded an officer”, the Israeli army’s Twitter account said. Israeli police said Amro rushed out of Jerusalem’s Old City armed with knives and tried to stab officers before being shot dead.
The Palestinians, as well as Israeli and worldwide rights groups, say Israel has at times used excessive force to subdue attackers.
Palestinian street attacks that began almost a year ago had largely waned in recent months, but a series of assaults since Friday have raised alarm in Israel of a new wave of bloodshed in the run-up to the Jewish New Year holiday next month. The suspect, who is a believed to be a Palestinian from east Jerusalem.
Palestinian leaders say assailants have acted out of desperation over the collapse of peace talks in 2014 and Israeli settlement expansion on occupied land that Palestinians seek for an independent state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The spike in violence has spurred the Israeli military to send troop reinforcements to the West Bank.
Israeli politicians have blamed the violence on Palestinian incitement, while Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said the problem was that his people had lost any hope of a better future.
The military said a Palestinian pulled out a knife during a security check in the West Bank city of Hebron earlier Saturday and stabbed a soldier, prompting forces to open fire and kill the attacker.
The Israeli officer have been identified at the time of this report, but Israeli sources say that he is 22 years old. The violence has flared during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and before Jewish High Holy Days season Tishrei. More than 200 Palestinians have been killed during the same period, majority identified by Israel as attackers.
The male officer reportedly disarmed and shot the attacker, leaving him seriously injured.
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Monday’s incident follows a weekend surge in Palestinian attacks that shattered weeks of relative calm. But Palestinian leaders argue the violence is rooted in almost 50 years of military occupation by Israel and dwindling hopes for an independent Palestinian state.
