Update: 2nd Palestinian shot dead after stabbing Israeli soldier

A second Palestinian stabber was shot dead Thursday by Israeli troops, authorities and medical sources said.

The Palestinian health ministry said in an emailed press statement that Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man at an Israeli army checkpoint near the village of Assira north of the West Bank city of Nablus.

The statement said the the young man's identity has not yet been determined, adding that the Israeli army refuses to hand over his body.

Israeli Radio reported that a young Palestinian man knifed an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint, mildly injuring him, before other soldiers opened fire and killed him.

Earlier Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot dead another Palestinian man who attempted to stab an Israeli soldier at an army blockade north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

The Palestinian health ministry said the Palestinian liaison office informed the ministry that Israeli army forces are also refusing to hand over the body of the man shot dead north of Hebron.

According to Israeli Radio, the Israeli army said that a Palestinian man tried to stab one of the soldiers at the army barricades near the Israeli settlement of E'non north of Hebron.

An Israeli witness said that as soon as the man approached the soldier, the other soldiers opened fire, killing the man. He added that no soldiers were not hurt.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed and four others injured in an Israeli offensive against a group of militants as they approached the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Since October 2015, Israel's army and security forces have killed 158 Palestinians and wounded hundreds in the current ongoing wave of violence between both sides in the Palestinian territories.

During the same time, Palestinians killed 23 Israelis and a U.S. citizen in knife, car-ramming, and shooting attacks.

Israel accused the Palestinian National Authority of "triggering" the violence, whereas Palestinians say it is simply the natural outcome of 49 years of Israeli rule over their territory.

Also on Thursday, the Palestinian consensus government held Israel accountable for the lives of three prisoners: two Palestinians and a Jordanian who are on a hunger strike in protest of their detainment without trial.

The Palestinian government called for the international community's swift intervention in order to save the lives of the three prisoners and to oblige Israel to release them immediately. Endit