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Israel: Palestinian Shot Dead During Knife Attack on Soldiers


Palestinians look at a car used in an attempted ramming attack on Israeli soldiers in the Qalandia refugee camp on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Dec. 16, 2015.
Palestinians look at a car used in an attempted ramming attack on Israeli soldiers in the Qalandia refugee camp on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Dec. 16, 2015.

Israeli troops on patrol in the occupied West Bank on Thursday shot dead a Palestinian who tried to stab them, the Israeli military said, a latest attack during a period of heightened violence.

The military said the force spotted a man near the village of Hawara and attempted to question him but he ran toward them holding a knife and was shot dead.

A statement issued by the army further detailed, saying "the forces responded to the immediate threat, shooting the perpetrator, resulting in his death."

A campaign of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings by Palestinians has killed 19 Israelis and a U.S. citizen since the start of October. Israeli forces have killed at least 114 Palestinians, most of whom the army described as assailants.

Palestinians are frustrated at the failure of long-running peace efforts with Israel and its 48-year occupation of the West Bank. Many sympathize with calls by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for Israel's destruction.

The bloodshed has also been fueled by Muslim opposition to stepped-up Israeli access to Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque complex, which many Jews revere as a vestige of their biblical temples.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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