Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian man in Bethlehem after alleged stabbing
Israeli soldiers shot and killed on Thursday a Palestinian man after he reportedly attempted to stab them in Tuqu, east of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
Mohmmad Hussein Tanouh, 26, was shot four times before an army vehicle ran over him, near al-Khansa school in the town, reported Palestinian media.
An Israeli army spokesperson said Tanouh had attempted to stab soldiers before they "responded to the immediate threat, and killed the man".
The incident sparked angry protests from local residents who were prevented from reaching Tanouh's body, reported Maan news.
The attack comes amid increasing unrest in Jerusalem with the spiritual leader of al-Aqsa Mosque warning on Thursday of an "explosion" over the control of access to the city's holiest site, the Noble Sanctuary.
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, who was shot by an Israeli rubber bullet in the latest clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters, said the continued lockdown of the site by Israeli police would lead to more violence.
His comments come ahead of a planned Palestinian "day of rage" in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, called for by the Fatah movement, which is incensed at the Israeli response to an attack near the site last Friday that left three Palestinian gunmen and two Israeli police dead.
A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 272 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP tally.
Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.
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