Palestinian shot dead after alleged W. Bank knife attack

JERUSALEM

A Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israeli forces on Sunday after allegedly carrying out a knife attack in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the incident, while the Palestinian Ma'an news agency identified the slain man as 21-year-old Wissam Marwan Qasrawa.

The Israeli military claimed that Qasrawa had been shot dead after attempting to stab Israeli soldiers.

Also on Sunday, an Israeli woman was killed in a knife attack that occurred near the southern West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil).

The Israeli military said it was currently searching for the attacker, who, it alleged, had entered a home in the Jewish-only Otniel settlement and stabbed the woman to death.

More than 150 Palestinians have been shot dead by the Israeli armed forces -- following alleged knife attacks or during clashes -- since Oct. 1 of last year, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Over the same period, 29 Israelis or foreigners have been killed in the ongoing violence.