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Update: Two Palestinians killed in West Bank amidst new alleged attack, one dead along Gaza border

Xinhua, October 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli soldiers shot and killed Tuesday two Palestinians after they attempted to perpetrate a stabbing attack near the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli army said, where violence raged throughout the day.

A military spokesperson said a soldier was very lightly wounded in his face when two suspects approached a military post in Hebron.

"One of the assailants stabbed the soldier," the spokesperson said, adding that the forces at the scene "responded to the attack, shooting both suspects."

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the incident occurred near the Cave of the Patriarchs, a flashpoint site in Hebron, holy to both Muslims and Jews.

Earlier on Tuesday, two Palestinian youths and an Israeli settler in his fifties were killed amidst alleged Palestinian attacks in the Hebron and Gush Etzion, the largest bloc of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The incidents came after Israeli forces overnight arrested Hassan Yousef, a 60-year-old long-time Hamas leader, in Beitunia, south of Ramallah, for alleged incitement to the current wave of violence.

Violent clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces took place near Ramallah and Bethlehem. In the Gaza border in southern Israel, a Palestinian man was killed, and at least 14 others were wounded as Israeli soldiers fired live fire at protesters, Palestinian media reported.

A military spokesperson said that the casualty, who was later identified as 27-year-old Ahmed Asrakhi, was part of snipers cell that has repeatedly opened fire at Israeli forces over the past week.

Tuesday's attacks occur amid a month-long wave of violence between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, which claimed the lives of 10 Israelis and at least 45 Palestinians.

The violence took place as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived on a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, urging both sides to act swiftly to prevent a "downward spiral" and further escalation. Endit