Soldiers shot dead a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, hours after an Israeli man was left in serious condition in a knife attack in east Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Rabi Arafah Rabi, 32, was hit by “a bullet in the head” at a checkpoint southeast of the city of Qalqilya.
An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers shot at a car carrying three suspects near Qaliqilya as the vehicle sped away after hitting a soldier when they tried to stop it for inspection.
“The soldiers shot at the vehicle,” said the spokesman.
“The soldier did not require medical treatment. We are aware of reports of a hit. The incident is being investigated.”
Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has increased in recent months amid a surge in anti-Israel attacks and near-daily raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
Earlier Saturday, police said officers “neutralized” a Palestinian knifeman in Israel-annexed East Jerusalem after an Israeli man was left behind in serious condition.
According to police, the man was stabbed in the back.
“One person was seriously injured after the knife attack and taken to the hospital,” the police said.
Israeli media said the stabbing victim was a religious Jew in his 20s.
“The suspect stabbed a passer-by with a knife and fled the crime scene north of the old town,” the police said.
They said the 16-year-old suspect was later found at a soccer field in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah district, not far from the scene.
Police said he tried to run away when he saw officers coming, but one officer gave chase.
At one point, he turned to the police officer “with an object in hand, the officer fearing for his life… shot him and neutralized him.”
The suspect’s condition is unknown.
According to the United Nations, more than 115 Palestinian militants and civilians have been killed this year, the highest casualty toll in the West Bank in almost seven years.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move unrecognized by most of the international community.
About 200,000 Israelis live in the sector, as well as 300,000 Palestinians.
Some 475,000 Israelis now live in settlements across the West Bank, along with some 2.8 million Palestinians who are under Israeli military rule or living under limited Palestinian government in various areas of the territory.
On Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said one Palestinian was killed overnight in clashes with soldiers in the West Bank hotspot city of Jenin, and three other Palestinians were injured in the clashes.
