Four Palestinians shot dead after alleged stabbing attempts

Four Palestinians from the same town near Hebron were shot dead by Israeli forces on Thursday after alleged stabbing attempts in two separate incidents in the southern West Bank, the army said.

In the first incident, three Palestinians, identified in local media as brothers Ahmed, 21, and Mohammed Kawasbeh, 20, and their cousin, Ala Kawasbeh, 20, were killed at a hitchhiking post at the Gush Etzion junction.

The cousins, from the town of Sair, were reportedly being searched when one of them pulled out a knife and was shot, according to an army source, quoted by Haaretz. The two others are also alleged to have also pulled out knives and attempted to attack the soldiers before they were also shot.

Two of the cousins died at the scene, while paramedics reportedly tried to resuscitate the third before he died, according to Maan News. No soldiers were injured during the incident.

A Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson told Maan News that their ambulance crews were not permitted to get close to the scene.

The three are thought to be the relatives of Ahmed Kawazbeh, 18, who was shot dead after allegedly stabbing a soldier at the same junction on Tuesday.

In the second incident, Khalil Shalalda, 16, also from Sair, was shot northeast of Hebron after an Israeli military spokesperson said he attempted to stab soldiers.

AFP reports that his cousin was killed at the same place, under similar circumstances in recent weeks.

Twenty-two Israelis and an American have been killed in attacks by Palestinians including stabbings, car rammings and gunfire targeting security forces and civilians since 1 October. At the same time, 143 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, most while allegedly carrying out attacks.

Home to the only city-centre in the West Bank in which Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents live side by side, the district of Hebron has been a flashpoint of violence in recent months. Around 30 percent of the Palestinians who have been shot dead during alleged attacks since the start of October were from Hebron.

As MEE reported last month, restrictions on movement, previously focused only in the city of Hebron, have spread throughout the district, with some Palestinian communities left with only one road in to their villages, blocked off by cement blocks.