Israeli police shoot and kill a Palestinian who stabbed an officer in the West Bank

Israeli police said officers shot and killed a Palestinian after he stabbed a police officer Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, in the latest episode of violence against Palestinians.

Police said the officer was lightly wounded in the attack and identified the Palestinian as a 19-year-old from the Gaza Strip. It wasn’t immediately clear what he was doing in the West Bank.

Israeli forces said the incident happened in Al-Bireh with support from Israeli domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.

Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military said Palestinians opened fire on a car in the West Bank, lightly injuring a number of Israeli civilians.

Three people inside an Israeli vehicle were wounded by gunshots near the Beit Lid intersection in northern West Bank.

Local media reported that the victims were a 32-year-old man and two boys aged 15 and 16.

In a separate event in the territory, the military said forces opened fire on a "suspicious vehicle" that turned out to belong to an Israeli.

Three Israeli civilians were lightly wounded as a result of the apparent mistaken fire, the military said.

The vehicle was at a checkpoint by the settlement of Beit El near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Monday night.

Local media reported that the victims were aged between 17 and 24, with one person hit by bullets in the shoulder and being treated in a hospital in occupied Jerusalem.

The bloodshed is part of a wave of violence surging in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. 

Cities and towns across the West Bank, including Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus have been facing near daily raids by Israeli forces with dozens of Palestinian men being detained.

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More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, most of them by the Israeli forces.

Others were killed while throwing stones, or in protests against the military. Some of those killed were not involved in confrontations with Israeli forces.

There has also been a surge in intimidation and violence by Israeli settlers. The UN agency OCHA recorded 1,084 settler attacks which led to 107 fatalities and injuries. More than 800 incidents damaged Palestinian land and property.

Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the West Bank have also been on the rise since the war broke out.