Claimed To Have Tried To Stab Israeli Soldiers, Palestinians Shot Dead

Israeli military illustration (Unsplash/Timon Studler)

JAKARTA - A Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank on Monday, being shot dead in response to a soldier's call.

In a separate incident, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said an elderly Palestinian died from the injuries he sustained nearly two weeks ago, when he was hit by a vehicle in the Israeli police service.

Violence has simmered in the West Bank, among territories Palestinians seek for a state, since US-backed peace talks with Israel stalled in 2014.

Video circulating on social media, and apparently taken by a motorcyclist, shows a man lying on the road at the Gush Etzion crossing in the West Bank, knife in hand, as three soldiers approach with rifles pointed at him, citing Reuters January 17.

A military spokesman said a man emerged from a car and tried to stab a soldier, who shot him dead, and the vehicle had fled the scene. Another Israeli military official identified the dead man as a Palestinian from a remote village.

In the nearby city of Hebron, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of 75-year-old Suleiman al-Hathalin, a veteran protester against Israeli West Bank settlements.

He had been standing in front of a tow truck that had been sent to his village of Um El-Kheir to confiscate the car without a permit on January 5, said a relative, Hazem al-Hathalin.

He said Suleiman al-Hathalin was deliberately hit by a truck, which "run over him with the front and rear wheels" before leaving. Meanwhile, an Israeli police spokesman did not immediately comment.

In a statement quoted by Israel's Haaretz newspaper on January 14, police said Palestinians had thrown stones at the truck and accompanying police forces, making it impossible for them to stop and help a man who got into the vehicle and fell.

Separately, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Facebook the late Suleiman "died defending his village".

Meanwhile, villagers said the vehicle that police were trying to tow was bought from Israelis at a low price after they failed to pass Israel's annual roadworthiness inspection.