Palestinian shot dead north of Hebron after reportedly trying to stab Israeli soldiers, army says.
Palestinian protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem [Mussa Qawasma/Reuters]
A Palestinian has been shot dead after allegedly attempting to stab Israeli soldiers north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army reported the incident on Friday, but added that none of its soldiers were wounded.
The Israeli army published a picture of the man’s identity card. It showed that the alleged attacker was 24- year-old Abdullah Taqatqa from Bethlehem.
Palestinian witnesses told local media that “Israeli forces shot at him while he was around 20 metres away from them” and that Taqatqa “didn’t have any type of knife with him or any kind of weapon”.
The incident occurred at the Gush Etzion junction near a large bloc of Israeli settlements south of Bethlehem.
It comes amid soaring tensions between Israeli authorities and Palestinians over discriminatory restrictions in place at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said that they have received 52 cases of injuries across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, in protests against the restrictions on Friday.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies
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