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Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank after alleged stabbing attack

Xinhua, October 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man after he allegedly attempted to stab a soldier during clashes near the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli military officials said.

"An assailant stabbed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer during a violent riot near Beit Awwa," an IDF statement said.

It added that Israeli forces responded with fire toward the assailant.

A military spokeswoman later said that the suspect was pronounced dead, and the soldier was superficially scratched.

She added that the troops shot the suspect after he ran toward the officer, attempting to stab him.

Tuesday's clashes came after the Israeli army demolished overnight the Hebron house of Maher Hashlamoun, a Palestinian who killed an Israeli woman in a West Bank stabbing attack last year. He was shot and killed following the attack.

Israel recently resumed the use of house demolitions as a punitive measure against relatives of Palestinians who harmed or allegedly harmed Israelis.

The Israeli military abandoned this policy in 2005, after the security establishment had concluded that the measure was not effective in deterring attacks.

The latest attacks occurred amidst a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has so far left scores of Palestinians and eight Israelis dead.

In a bid to restore calm, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came to the region Tuesday for separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Meantime, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank confirmed in an emailed press statement that a 24-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli troops. The man's identity is still unknown.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been wounded in the latest wave of clashes in the Palestinian territories and in Israel.

Also on Tuesday, Israel detained 35 Palestinians, including senior Islamic Hamas leader Hassan Yousef, Palestinian security officials and witnesses told Xinhua.

Yousef had been in Israeli jails for several times. He was released in June, after spending one year in administrative detention. Endit