(Update) Israeli army: Palestinian stabs girl in West Bank, shot dead

A Palestinian youth stabbed and wounded an Israeli girl at a West Bank settlement before he was shot dead on Thursday morning, Israeli officials said.

The girl died of her wounds later in hostpial.

A military statement said the assailant jumped over the security fence around Kiryat Araba, a Jewish settlement near Hebron city, and stabbed the young girl.

"After infiltrating the community, the terrorist entered a home and stabbed a teenage girl in her bedroom," the statement read.

The girl, identified as 13-year-old Hillel Yaffa Ariel, sustained critical injuries and died less than two hours later in a Jerusalem hospital, a spokeswoman for the hospital said.

Military and medical officials said a member of the security forces was stabbed and seriously wounded during the struggle with the attacker.

The assailant was identified as Mahmoud Traira, a 17-year-old Palestinian from the village of Bani Naim, east of Hebron.

Israel and the Palestinians have been mired in a wave of violence since mid-September 2015, which has killed 205 Palestinians and 32 Israelis.

Some of the Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli security forces during protests, while others were gunned down for allegedly carrying out, or trying to carry out, attacks against Israelis.

The Israeli victims were killed by Palestinian attackers in car-ramming, stabbing and shooting attacks.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, where they wish to establish an independent state. Endit