A man attends a demonstration calling for peace between Israel and Palestine in Jerusalem, on Oct. 17, 2015. (Xinhua Photo)
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH/UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Another violent day has passed when the bloody clashes between the Israelis and the Palestinians have continued to claim more lives of both sides as the UN chief has arrived in Israel to help calm the situation that has seemed to run out of control.
On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man after he allegedly attempted to stab a soldier during clashes near the West Bank city of Hebron, Israeli military officials said.
"An assailant stabbed an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer during a violent riot near Beit Awwa," an IDF statement said, adding that the Israeli forces responded by shooting at the assailant.
A military spokeswoman later said that the suspect was pronounced dead, and the soldier was superficially scratched, adding that the troops shot the suspect after he ran toward the officer, attempting to stab him.
In another incident on the same day, the Israelis forces shot and killed a Palestinian after he allegedly tried to run over and stab Israelis in the West Bank.
The military spokeswoman said that the suspect was driving a white Renault Kangoo at the Gush Etzion Junction, the main crossroad in the largest bloc of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
He rammed his vehicle at a group of soldiers and Israeli civilians waiting at a bus stop. The attacker then went out of his vehicle, armed with a knife and stabbed the pedestrians, injuring a soldier and a civilian, an army statement said.
"The troops then opened fire on him, killing him on the spot," said the spokeswoman.
About two hours earlier, a 50-year-old Israeli man was killed on Route 60 near the West Bank city of Hebron, as a vehicle ran over him as he stepped out of his car, police spokesperson Luba Samri said.
Samri added that stones were thrown at the Israeli man's car just before the accident.
Israel's Army Radio reported that a Palestinian truck driver turned himself in to the Palestinian police, and said he hit the man by accident.
Tuesday's attacks occur amid a wave of violence between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, which claimed the lives of eight Israelis and at least 42 Palestinians.
The violence was sparked amid strife over a holy East Jerusalem site, and spread into the West Bank, Gaza Strip and across Israel, with Palestinian committing stabbing and shooting attacks against Israeli Jews, and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.
Meanwhile, during a visit to an army post near the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is satisfied with the Israeli security forces conduct in quelling unrest in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces became a daily routine in the past several weeks.
A Palestinian student from Palestine Polytechnic University sits during a protest against Israel near the Jewish settlement of Beit Hagai, at the southern entrance to the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on Oct. 18,2015. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
"We are operating to calm the unrest with actions against terrorists, in a responsible and measured way, with force, sometimes with a lot of force if needed," Netanyahu said, according to a statement from his office.
SURPRISE VISIT BY UN CHIEF
Amid growing violence, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon made a surprise visit to the region on Tuesday in a bid to quell the unrest, and will hold separate meetings with top leaders of both parties.
In a message emailed to the press, a UN spokesman said the secretary-general "has repeatedly expressed his anguish and deep concern at the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine."
"In an effort to help defuse the current tensions, he is traveling to the region today (Tuesday 20 October 2015) to meet with (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Palestinian) President (Mahmoud) Abbas, and other senior officials."
"The secretary-general is expected to meet with Israeli and Palestinian victims of the recent hostilities and terror attacks," the spokesman added.
Earlier, Palestinian officials said that they will urge UN chief to respond to Palestinians' request for international protection.
Majdi al-Khaldi, the diplomatic adviser to President Abbas, told Xinhua that the Palestinians want Ban to take the request to the UN Security Council to stop what he described as "Israeli crimes and violations."
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has also called on a UN rapporteur late last week to investigate the Israeli killing of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (R) speaks during a joint presser with United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon at the presidential compound in Jerusalem on Oct. 20, 2015. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
Israel recently resumed the use of house demolitions as a punitive measure against relatives of Palestinians who harmed or allegedly harmed Israelis.
The Israeli military abandoned this policy in 2005, after the security establishment had concluded that the measure was not effective in deterring attacks.
Also on Tuesday, Israel detained 35 Palestinians, including senior Islamic Hamas leader Hassan Yousef, Palestinian security officials and witnesses told Xinhua.
Yousef had been in Israeli jails for several times. He was released in June, after spending one year in administrative detention.
