Israeli soldiers stand guard at the scene of a stabbing attack near the village of Taquwa, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on July 20, 2017. Israeli soldiers on Thursday shot dead a Palestinian after he allegedly tried to carry out a stabbing attack in the occupied West Bank. (Xinhua/Mamoun Wazwaz)
JERUSALEM, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian after he allegedly tried to stab soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a military spokesperson said in a statement.
"An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab Israel Defense Forces soldiers at a checkpoint," the statement read.
In response, the force shot at him. He was severely wounded and died of his wound at the scene, according to the statement.
The army released a photo of a chef's knife, saying it was used by the assailant.
No Israelis were injured.
It was the second time a Palestinian suspect was shot dead by soldiers over the past two days. On Tuesday, troops killed a Palestinian man who perpetrated a car-ramming attack near the city of Hebron in the West Bank, lightly injuring a soldier before he was shot, according to officials.
The violence came amidst heightened tensions in the region, sparked by new security measures that Israel has implanted in al-Aqsa mosque compound, one of East Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site.
The measures, including metal detectors at the gates and CCTVs, were installed in the wake of a shooting attack that killed two policemen. The assailants, three Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship, were subsequently killed by the police.
A wave of unrest that erupted in mid-September 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 283 Palestinians, 44 Israelis, two U.S. nationals, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a British tourist.
