Israeli forces shoot two Palestinians

With no end in sight to weeks of Israeli-Palestinian violence, Israel's prime minister headed to Germany on Wednesday for a high-profile meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, aimed at restoring calm to the region.

As Binyamin Netanyahu departed for Berlin, a Palestinian stabbed a soldier near Jerusalem, lightly injuring her, before he was killed by Israeli forces.

Earlier, Israeli troops shot a young Palestinian woman in the West Bank after she allegedly approached a settlement with a knife.

Police said they had also arrested a second "terrorist" believed to be an accomplice. The wounded soldier, a woman, was taken to hospital.

At least 47 Palestinians have now been killed in the upsurge in violence since the start of the month, including alleged "attackers". Ten Israelis have died.

Intense diplomatic efforts 

The Kerry meeting highlights several days of intense diplomatic efforts to end the violence.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rushed to the region to urge calm, meeting Netanyahu on Tuesday and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday.

Ban said he had been urging both sides to "tell their people correctly that there should be no killings".

He spoke alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday a day after he made a surprise visit to Jerusalem.

"I know that people are angry and frustrated, particularly the young people of the Palestinians - when life has always been under occupation there cannot be much hope," Ban said.

Kerry meets the Israeli leader on Thursday in Germany, before heading to the region for talks with Abbas and Jordanian King Abdullah II this weekend.

Before departing, Netanyahu said he hoped his meeting with Kerry would focus on "ways to calm the situation." He said he would ask Kerry to press Abbas to halt what he says is Palestinian incitement fuelling the violence.

At a meeting with Ban at his West Bank headquarters, Abbas said he would seek a resumption of peace negotiations, based on international resolutions calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem - terms that Netanyahu rejects.

The comments by the Israeli and Palestinian leaders reflected the wide gulf between them as the violence continues.

The unrest erupted last month with clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at a Jerusalem holy site revered by Jews and Muslims.

The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism and home to the biblical Temples. For Muslims, it is the Noble Sanctuary, home to the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam and a key national symbol for the Palestinians.

The site, captured by Israel from Jordan in the 1967 war, is a frequent flashpoint of violence.

The Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to change the longstanding "status quo" at the site, which allows Jews to visit but not to pray. They point to a growing number of Jewish visitors who seek an expanded Jewish presence and prayer rights at the site.

Netanyahu says the Palestinian allegations were slanderous incitement. He says the hostile rhetoric, and incendiary videos making the rounds on social media are fuelling the violence.

The Palestinians say the violence is the result of living under Israeli occupation for nearly 50 years.

Following the collapse of US-mediated peace talks last year, they see little hope for realising their dream of gaining independence and establishing an independent state.