Palestinian shot dead in West Bank, say Israeli police

A Palestinian was shot dead at a West Bank checkpoint on Tuesday after walking towards guards wielding a knife, Israeli police said.

"A Palestinian attempted to cross the checkpoint using the vehicle lane and approached security guards brandishing a knife," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.

"The terrorist was neutralised," she added, later confirming he had been killed. There were no Israeli casualties.

The incident happened at the Qalandia checkpoint between the northern West Bank and Jerusalem, which is used by thousands of Palestinians every day.

The heavily fortified checkpoint is regarded as a symbol of Israeli occupation by Palestinians and has seen an upsurge in attacks during the past year.

Several young Palestinians have been killed recently at checkpoints and during clashes with Israeli police.

On Friday, Israeli troops shot dead a young Palestinian during clashes along the Gaza border, while another Palestinian man was killed by Israeli troops after shooting at, and wounding, three Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on 31 October. 

Since October 2015, 240 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out attacks, according to Israeli authorities. 

Others were shot dead during protests or clashes, while some died in Israeli air strikes on Gaza. The overall level of violence has dropped since the summer.