Palestinian teenager in West Bank knife attack killed: Israel police

A Palestinian teenager who tried to attack an Israeli border guard in the occupied West Bank with a knife on Saturday was shot dead, an Israeli police spokeswoman said.

She said the 17-year-old attacker approached a group of border guards and pulled a knife from his bag to attack one of them, and another guard opened fire on him.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the teenager as Qoteiba Yussef Zahran from the Tulkarm region of the northern West Bank.

The Israeli spokeswoman said one of the border guards suffered a slight leg injury during the incident, but did not say clearly if he had been stabbed by the Palestinian.

Israel's public radio said the guard was the victim of "friendly fire".

The Jerusalem Post reported, however, that a border policeman was lightly wounded after being stabbed near the Tapuach junction in the northern West Bank.

The 21 year-old victim who was stabbed in the leg was treated by Magen David Adom paramedics and Israeli Army medical forces at the scene, the Post said.  He was evacuated to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva and reported to be fully conscious.

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has killed more than 294 Palestinians, 47 Israelis, two Americans, two Jordanians, an Eritrean, a Sudanese and a Briton, according to an AFP toll.

Israeli authorities say most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

Others were shot dead in protests and clashes, while some were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

The violence had greatly subsided in recent months, but tension around the highly sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem saw a spike in July.