IDF soldiers kill Palestinian woman who approached them with knife in West Bank
Military says incident south of Bethlehem appears to be a stabbing attempt; woman was a former security detainee
A Palestinian woman armed with a knife approached a soldier stationed in the southern West Bank before being shot and killed, the Israeli military and Palestinian health officials said Wednesday morning.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the woman was holding the knife in her hand as she neared a soldier close to the Al Aroub refugee camp, south of Bethlehem.
The military said that troops responded to the apparent attempted stabbing with gunfire.
The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry identified the alleged attacker as Ghufran Haroun Hamed Warasneh, a former security detainee.
A Channel 12 report said the woman had attempted a stabbing attack in the past.
The ministry said the bullet entered her body under her left arm and exited on the right side.
No Israelis were injured in the incident.
Tensions have risen sharply between Israel and the Palestinians in recent months against the backdrop of a number of terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank that left 19 people dead.
The Israeli army stepped up its West Bank activities in an attempt to crack down on the spiraling violence. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed since mid-March, many in clashes sparked by Israeli raids. Some were gunmen involved in firefights with Israeli soldiers, while others took part in violent clashes. Still others were apparently uninvolved bystanders.
