Three Israeli settlers killed in West Bank stabbing, Palestinian shot dead
Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man after he allegedly stabbed three Israeli settlers to death and seriously wounded three more near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
The Palestinian man attacked Israelis at two different locations in the Ariel settlement area near the Palestinian city of Salfit, according to the Israeli military.
He then fled the scene in a vehicle and caused a car crash, before he got out and was shot dead by Israeli troops.
The Palestinian ministry of health said 18-year-old Mohammad Morad Sami Souf, from Haris town in the Salfit governorate, has been killed by Israeli forces.
In the afternoon, Israeli forces raided Haris and erected roadblocks and checkpoints around Salfit, looking for possible accomplices.
Palestinian media reported that Souf's uncle and cousin have been arrested.
His family home has been mapped for demolition as part of an ongoing Israeli policy of razing the homes of suspected Palestinian attackers. The practice has been condemned by rights groups as a form of collective punishment.
The stabbing comes amid a spike in Israeli violence against Palestinians in the West Bank this year and a resurgence of Palestinian armed resistance.
On Monday, Israeli forces shot dead 15-year-old Fulla Rasmi al-Masalma a day before her birthday.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed 139 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, in the West Bank this year, making it the deadliest on a monthly average for Palestinians since the UN began recording fatalities in 2005.
Meanwhile, Israeli casualties also witnessed a spike in 2022 compared to recent years.
The Tuesday stabbing takes the death toll of Israelis killed by Palestinians this year to at least 23, seven of them killed in shootings and stabbings in the occupied West Bank.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 200 settlements and outposts, deemed illegal under international law, across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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