Knife-wielding Palestinian shot dead in northern West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian who approached them in the northern West Bank on Monday morning, the Israeli army said.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said soldiers saw a suspect, who infiltrated the security fence near the village of Sal'it separating the West Bank and central Israel, drawing a knife and attempting to stab them.

The soldiers then fired at the Palestinian and killed him, the spokesperson said in a statement. Palestinian sources later recognized him as 19-year-old Hassan Abed Altif, a resident of Jamal, a Palestinian village in the West Bank.

No Israelis were injured in the attempted attack.

Altif's family said he was trying to cross the fence to get into Israel for work, the Ha'aretz daily reported.

On Sunday, a Palestinian gunman was shot dead after injuring three soldiers, one of them seriously, at an Israeli military checkpoint near Ramallah.

The gunman was later identified as Amjad Awad Abu Omar, a 34-year-old policeman, who wrote prior to the attack "Forgive me; I might be next" on his Facebook page, adding that he cannot see a way to live under the Israeli occupation which is "killing our brothers and sisters."

Twenty five Israelis and one U.S. citizen were killed in a string of lone-wolf attacks by Palestinians in the past four and a half months.

At least 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of whom were killed after allegedly carrying attacks.

Israel accused the Palestinian Authority of inciting violence, whereas the Palestinians say the attacks come amid 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories. Endit