JERUSALEM—Israeli forces on Thursday shot and killed two Palestinians, including one who stabbed a soldier, Israeli authorities said, the latest in a string of clashes in the volatile West Bank city of Hebron.
In recent days, Hebron has become a focus of clashes following six weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence. The city, where several hundred nationalist Israeli settlers live in fortified enclaves amid tens of thousands of Palestinians, is a frequent flashpoint of unrest.
In the latest violence, police said a 23-year-old Palestinian man stabbed a soldier in the head, wounding him lightly, and then attempted to stab another security officer before forces shot and killed him. The Palestinian approached soldiers at a checkpoint as clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops erupted nearby, police said.
Later, forces shot and killed another Palestinian who the military said attempted to stab an Israeli soldier. But a Palestinian witness at the scene, community activist Issa Amro, challenged the Israeli account, saying he had not seen a knife. Palestinians have repeatedly accused the army of using unnecessary or excessive force, a charge that Israel denies.
Hebron has been the site of days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops, and also the scene of several stabbing attacks by Palestinians. The Israeli military said Thursday that a Palestinian who tried to stab a soldier in the city on Wednesday died after forces shot him.
The incident involving the 23-year-old Palestinian on Thursday took place near a disputed shrine known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs, where the Bible says the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried along with three of their wives. Muslims call it the al-Ibrahimi mosque, reflecting the fact that Abraham is considered the father of both Judaism and Islam.
