Israeli security official kills Palestinian attacker in West Bank

An Israeli security official on Tuesday shot dead a Palestinian man as he attempted to carry out a stabbing attack in the occupied West Bank, the army and Palestinian authorities said.

An Israeli military statement said there had been “an attempted stabbing attack at the Gush Etzion Junction,” which is southwest of Bethlehem.

A second statement later clarified that the alleged assailant was not shot by a soldier but by a “security coordinator,” an official responsible for security in the Gush Etzion settler community, employed by the Israeli state.

“A security coordinator and a soldier operated to stop the suspect by firing into the air. The suspect threw a knife at the coordinator, who responded with fire and neutralized the suspect,” the statement added.

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Gush Etzion is a bloc of two dozen Israeli settlements and outposts near Bethlehem.

There is frequent friction at the nearby junction, which has been the site of numerous so-called lone wolf Palestinian attacks.

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All Jewish settlements in the West Bank are regarded as illegal by most of the international community.

The Palestinian health ministry said it had been informed that the dead man was a Palestinian.

Official Palestinian News Agency WAFA named him as Ahed Abdelrahman Qawqas Alkhalil, 25, from the town of Beit Ummar near Hebron.