(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli at a junction in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and was shot, police said.
"The terrorist was neutralised, apparently killed" a statement said, adding that no Israelis were injured in the incident at the Etzion junction, north of Hebron, in the southern West Bank.
Palestinian officials confirmed the man's death, naming him as Malik Sharif, 25, of Hebron.
The army said he sought to attack soldiers waiting at a busy bus stop in what is known as the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
"A Palestinian, armed with a knife, attempted to stab the soldiers," a statement said.
"Forces at the scene responded to the immediate threat and shot the assailant."
The wave of violence that erupted at the start of October has claimed the lives of nine Israelis, 71 Palestinians and an Arab Israeli.
The violence was originally focused in and around Jerusalem, but the epicentre later moved to Hebron.
Earlier Thursday, Palestinians in Hebron buried local man Ibrahim Skafi, 22, who was shot dead a day earlier after allegedly ramming and critically injuring an Israeli border policeman with his car.
Over the past two weeks, around 21 young Palestinians have been shot by Israeli forces in and around Hebron. The army has accused them of trying to stab Israeli security forces or Jewish settlers.
Meanwhile, Israel has begun lifting some security measures in place over a wave of violence that raised fears of a full-scale Palestinian uprising, removing key roadblocks in annexed east Jerusalem, police said.
A number of checkpoints and roadblocks were dismantled in recent days, a police spokeswoman said, calling the decision a "direct result of the stabilisation of the security situation, which allows for this more lenient policy".
The decision would allow a return to "normal life," her statement added.
Roadblocks were installed in a number of locations in east Jerusalem last month after a wave of Palestinian stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis began on October 1.
The area of Jabel Mukaber, from where a number of the attackers came, was largely blocked off by checkpoints. Some of these have been removed, the statement said.
Any deterioration in the relative calm of recent days, however, will lead the police to "use all means at its disposal against the terrorists who break the law and order," the statement warned.
It said thousands of police were ready to respond at short notice.
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