A Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli soldier and was shot dead north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the Israeli army said.

"A Palestinian attempted to stab a soldier during a violent riot in Beit Einun, Hebron," an army statement said.

"The soldiers at the scene responded to the immediate threat and shot the attacker, resulting in his death."

The incident is the latest in a wave of violence that has seen nine Israelis, 67 Palestinians and an Arab Israeli killed since the beginning of October, raising fears of a new Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

While the attacks were initially focused in Jerusalem, the epicentre has recently shifted to Hebron, the West Bank's largest city, where there have been daily protests and attacks on Israeli soldiers.
The city, home to a shrine known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, has 200,000 Palestinian residents. Around 500 Israeli settlers live in the centre, protected by an army-patrolled buffer zone.

Source: AFP