TEKOA: Israeli security forces stand guard at the site where a Palestinian attempted a car ramming and knife attack against Israeli soldiers at a junction in Tekoa, south of Jerusalem.—AFP

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian attempted a car-ramming and knife attack against Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank yesterday and was shot dead, Israel’s army said. The incident occurred at a junction in Tekoa, south of Jerusalem. One soldier was reported lightly wounded.

According to the army, the assailant attempted the car-ramming, then exited the vehicle and tried to stab soldiers. The identity and age of the Palestinian were not immediately available. “A short while ago, a Palestinian assailant attempted a car ramming attack at a junction in Tekoa,” the army said in a statement. “He then exited the vehicle, armed with a knife, and attempted to stab (Israeli) soldiers standing nearby. An (Israeli) soldier was slightly injured in this incident and is receiving medical treatment in the hospital. “In response to the immediate threat, forces fired towards the assailant, who died.”

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 275 Palestinians, 42 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP toll. Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or carramming attacks. Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. The violence has greatly subsided in recent months.—AFP