An Israeli woman was stabbed to death by a Palestinian who was among three assailants to be shot dead following separate attacks today, Israeli security forces said, with the latest flare-up of violence coming ahead of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Israeli woman was seriously wounded when a Palestinian attacked her with a knife in the West Bank today afternoon before being shot and killed by soldiers nearby, the military said.
A spokeswoman at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem said the 21-year-old woman arrived in serious condition and later died of her wounds.
The attack occurred at the Gush Etzion junction near Jerusalem, the scene of multiple Palestinian attacks over the past two months.
In an earlier attack, the military said a woman pulled out a knife at the entrance to a military base and began approaching civilians. A local West Bank settler leader, Gershon Mesika, said he veered his vehicle off the road and struck the woman. A soldier then fired at her and killed her.
The army did not say how close the woman had been to carrying out an attack or release a video of the incident.
Her father, Taha Qatanani, said his 16-year-old daughter went to school as usual in the morning and that he heard about her death two hours later. "She talked about stabbing to her brother the day before but no one took her seriously. If she tried to stab she did what she wanted," he said.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, a Palestinian driving a taxi cab tried to run over Israelis east of Jerusalem, police said.
After crashing his car, he emerged with a knife and tried to stab people, but was shot dead by a bystander before he could harm anyone. Israeli politicians have encouraged licensed gun owners to carry their weapons during the latest wave of unrest.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended citizens for being on "maximum alert."
"I must say that we are showing such awareness, with considerable resourcefulness and courage, and this is deserving of all praise. We are still fighting and will continue to do so," he said at his weekly Cabinet meeting.
Today's attacks came two days before Kerry is scheduled to arrive in an attempt to calm tensions stemming from a two-month wave of violence that shows no signs of slowing. It will mark his first visit to the area to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders in more than a year.
Yesterday night, a Palestinian attacker stabbed four people in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat. Following an hourslong manhunt, police found the 18-year-old hiding in the yard of a nearby home.
