Assailant tries to stab soldiers in West Bank, shot dead: army

An assailant tried to stab Israeli soldiers south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank today and was shot dead, the Israeli army said.
"An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab (Israeli) soldiers at a checkpoint in Tekoa. In response to the immediate threat, forces fired shots towards the assailant," a military statement said, with a spokeswoman confirming the suspect's death to AFP.
No soldiers were reported wounded and no immediate details were available on the assailant's identity. The vast majority of such cases have involved Palestinian attackers.
Last week, a Palestinian attempted to ram his car at soldiers manning the same checkpoint before exiting the vehicle armed with a knife and trying to stab the troops. He was shot dead.

A wave of unrest that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of at least 284 Palestinians or Arab Israelis, 44 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 has greatly subsided in recent months, though an attack near a sensitive Jerusalem holy site last week that killed two policemen has boosted tensions.