Jew killed by Israeli security forces as Palestinian attacker

Israeli security forces shot dead a Jewish Israeli they had mistaken for a Palestinian attacker in central Jerusalem Wednesday night, police said in a statement.

At first, reports alleged that a Palestinian who tried to stab Israelis on a bus on Yirmihau Street in central Jerusalem was shot and killed by security forces, a common occurrence in the month-long violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

However, it appeared this time that security forces shot and killed an Israeli Jew they thought to be a Palestinian attacker, Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.

"An initial investigation reveals that two members of the security forces tried to board a bus, and a man who descended from the bus asked to see their identification cards. The two asked to conduct a search on him, and they claimed he attacked them with his fists," the Israeli police said.

"The two claimed he tried to snatch their weapons, he was then shot and neutralized," the police added. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation.

The attack took place amid high tensions as violence continued to spiral between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Israeli government has recently relaxed limitations on Israeli security forces wishing to conduct searches on suspects, without requiring probable cause.

There were claims that Israeli security forces -- as well as Israeli bystanders -- used excessive force against suspected Palestinian attackers.

On Sunday, an Eritrean asylum seeker was killed by security forces during a shooting attack in a central bus station in the southern town of Be'er Sheva, as he was mistaken to be an attacker.

Only a couple of hours earlier on Wednesday evening, a Palestinian man ran over four Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, north of Hebron, leaving one with moderate to serious injuries and three others in light condition. The driver was shot and seriously injured and taken to a Jerusalem hospital. Endi