Palestinian man shot dead after alleged stabbing

Israeli security forces have shot dead a Palestinian man in Jerusalem after he allegedly stabbed two police officers, Israeli police say.

Israeli police spokesperson Luba Samri said a 20-year-old Palestinian “walked through Damascus Gate and then turned around with a knife in his hand, ran at the officers and attacked them” on Friday.

“The team responded by gunfire and neutralised the terrorist,” Samri said. 

She said one of the officers sustained knife wounds to the head and the other was cut in the hand before shooting the man.

Damascus Gate, a main entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, has been the scene of numerous shootings over the past few months. 

On Thursday two Palestinian 14-year-olds stabbed and killed an Israeli in a supermarket in the occupied West Bank before an armed civilian shot and wounded the teenagers, who were taken for treatment to Israeli hospitals in Jerusalem.

Israeli soldiers on Saturday shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian girl near a mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron. The Israeli army said the young woman was killed after attempting to stab a soldier.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 176 Palestinians had been killed since violence erupted in the occupied territories in early October, with near-daily reports of alleged attacks that resulted in killings by Israeli security forces.

At least 27 Israelis have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians since then.