Knife and car attacks wound 6 Israelis in West Bank

Despite waning violence in recent days, new knife, gun and car attacks continued on Saturday in spite of tough security measures put in place by the Israelis.

The latest unrest came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington on Sunday to meet US President Barack Obama.

In the first incident, a Palestinian rammed a group of Israelis with a car at a junction, wounding four of them. Security forces promptly killed the Palestinian, police said.

The alleged attacker was said to have driven the car into an area south of Nablus where Israelis typically gather to hitch rides. Israeli border police fired at the car at a nearby checkpoint.

Israeli public radio said two of those run over are in serious condition.

Later in the day, a security guard shot and killed a Palestinian woman trying to stab him near a West Bank settlement, according to the Israeli police and army.

Security footage showing the stabbing circulated on social media following the attack, in which a woman grabs a knife out of her purse and charges at a security guard.

Danny Sandler, the head of Israel's civil liaison affairs, said that the video was recorded on surveillance cameras and "proves that the woman planned a stabbing attack".

He urged Palestinian "media and social media" to stop "incitement", adding that more violent encounters would endanger more Palestinians.

The footage does not show the shooting of the woman, identified by her family as Hilwa Salim Darwish, from Husan village west of Bethlehem.

The third incident saw an Israeli settler stabbed while shopping in the West Bank village of Nabi Ilyas, with two alleged Palestinian assailants fleeing afterwards, the Israeli defence ministry said.

The victim, aged around 50, was stabbed in the stomach but managed to drive to a nearby checkpoint and was taken for medical treatment, authorities said. He lives in the Immanuel settlement in the West Bank.

Attacks since the start of October have left 73 Palestinians dead; around half of them alleged attackers. Nine Israelis and one Arab Israeli have also been killed.

Violent protests have also erupted in annexed east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Unrest had appeared to be declining over the past few days, but several attacks on Friday as well as clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians shattered the lull.

Much of the violence has been in the West Bank city of Hebron, where two Israelis were shot and wounded on Friday at a flashpoint holy site.

Netanyahu's meeting with Obama will be centred on US defence aid to Israel following the July nuclear accord between major powers and Iran, but the violence between Israelis and Palestinians is also expected to be discussed.

At the start of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu said he will discuss with Obama "possible progress with the Palestinians, or at least stabilising the situation with them, and, of course, strengthening the security of the state of Israel".

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Sunday that Netanyahu planned to unveil measures to calm tensions in the West Bank during his meeting with Obama, and that these may include removing some checkpoints and easing certain restrictions on movement.

US officials say, however, that Obama has lost any hope of a final peace accord being reached between Israelis and Palestinians before he leaves office in January 2017, and sees meaningful negotiations as unlikely before then.