Tension high as violence spikes

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier yesterday in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron before he was shot dead, the army said, in the fourth attack on Israelis in less than 24 hours.

A military statement said the attacker drew a knife during a routine security check in Hebron's Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, wounding the soldier.

"In response to the immediate threat, forces at the scene shot the assailant, resulting in his death," the statement said.

The Palestinian health ministry named the man killed as Hatem al-Shaloudi, 25.

He was a resident of Tel Rumeida, as was 16-year-old Mohammed Rajabi, shot dead during an attack on Friday. Rajabi was one of three alleged assailants killed Friday while carrying out attacks on Israelis, two in and around occupied Hebron and one in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Since October, 228 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since capturing it in the 1967 Six Day War.

In the Gaza Strip on Friday, a Palestinian medical official said that Israeli troops at the border fence east of Gaza City shot and slightly wounded three Palestinian youths.

An army spokeswoman said they had been rioting.

The uptick in violence was a reminder of persistent tensions alarming the international community and came as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the two-state solution was "further than ever" from becoming reality.

International powers have criticised Israel's continued settlement expansion in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, with more than 500,000 Israelis now living in outposts that the international community considers illegal, as well as incitement to violence by Palestinian leaders.