Two Palestinians attack Israeli soldiers in West Bank, army says

NEAR HEBRON (Reuters): Two Palestinian attackers tried to shoot and stab Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and the soldiers responded with live fire, the military said. Israel’s Army Radio said one of the attackers was killed.

“One of the terrorists attempted to stab IDF soldiers that were in the area, who responded with live fire and neutralized him,” the military said. “At the same time, the other terrorist opened fire at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and neutralized him too.”

A Reuters cameraman saw a body at the scene of the incident – a junction near the Palestinian city of Hebron.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials.

Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, has escalated since with frequent army raids on militant groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages and Palestinian street attacks.

On Saturday, Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank, while an ambulance driver was killed as he went to pick up wounded from a separate attack by violent Jewish settlers, Palestinian authorities said.

Israeli forces began an extended raid in the early hours of Friday in the Nur Shams area, near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Tulkarm and exchanged fire with armed fighters well into Saturday.

Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested and hundreds killed during regular operations in the West Bank by Israeli army and police since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, mostly members of armed groups, but also stone-throwing youths and uninvolved civilians.

The West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel captured in a 1967 war, are among the lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state. U.S.-brokered peace talks broke down a decade ago.