Off the wire
• Houston Rockets lose season opener to Denver Nuggets 105-85  • Roundup: Japan gains provisional approval to deploy controversial Osprey planes to Saga Pref.  • Roundup: India pledges to involve itself in Africa's development  • Gold price closes down in Hong Kong  • Foreign exchange rates in Hong Kong  • Aussie financial services delegation to visit China in wake of British push  • Indian PM calls for cooperation with Africa in UN reforms, counter-terrorism  • IT firms remain most creative in Taiwan  • Roundup: Hong Kong stocks close 0.6 pct lower  • Tibet intangible cultural heritage illustrated collection published  
You are here: 　 Home

Palestinian killed in latest stabbing attack in West Bank

Xinhua, October 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Israeli military shot and killed a Palestinian who allegedly stabbed a soldier in the West Bank on Thursday in the latest incident of violence gripping the region, Israeli authorities and Palestinian medics said.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the incident occurred near the Tomb of Patriarchs, a holy site to both Muslims and Jews.

"Amidst riots in the area, a knife-wielding terrorist lunged at a soldier at a checkpoint and stabbed him in the head," said Samri.

The suspect, identified as a 23-year-old resident of Hebron, was shot and killed, and the soldier sustained light injuries, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

Mohamed Awawdeh, an official at the Palestinian health ministry, confirmed to Xinhua that a Palestinian man in his mid-20s was killed by the Israeli military.

"After the young man was killed, the Israeli army held his body and refused to hand it over to his family," said Awawdeh, adding that the Israeli army is still holding the bodies of 20 Palestinians since early October, most of them from Hebron.

The incident Thursday morning brought the total number of Palestinians killed in similar attacks to five in the last 48 hours; four of them were killed in Hebron after they carried out stabbing attacks on Israeli soldiers.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, the death toll of Palestinians killed by Israeli police and military since early October has climbed to 66. More than 2,000 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli security forces.

The latest wave of violence started last month in East Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound and spread throughout Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In recent days, Hebron, a city where some 1,000 Jewish settlers live under heavy military guard among tens of thousands of Palestinians, became the main hotspot of violence, with knife attacks and almost daily clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces.

The wave of violence has resulted in the death of 11 Israelis, who died mainly in knife attacks, according to officials. Endit