Palestinian shot dead by Israeli troops after alleged attack

Israeli troops on Thursday shot dead a Palestinian youth they claim attempted to stab a soldier near the West Bank settlement of Ofra.

"Palestinian assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab an Israel Defence Forces soldier guarding a bus stop near the community of Ofra," am Israeli army statement in English said.

"Responding to threat, forces at the scene shot the assailant, resulting in his death," it said.

The Palestinian health ministry named the youth as Maen Abu Qaraa, 23, from an area northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

The local Ma’an News Agency reported that Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian medics from reaching the scene, leaving the youth to bleed to death.

Rights groups have repeatedly denounced what they have termed Israeli forces' "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians who did not constitute a threat at the time of their death or who could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.

Last week, an internal military review found that Israeli soldiers were using unnecessary force against Palestinian attackers.

One example cited by the enquiry was the killing of 15-year-old Palestinian Khaled Bahar, who was shot by soldiers on October 20 after he threw stones at them.

"According to the enquiry there was no danger to life (to the commander). He should not have fired at the central body mass in order to kill," the report said.

In a separate incident on Thursday, an Israeli soldier was lightly wounded after being shot by an unknown assailant near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem.

A wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks began a year ago, but the violence has significantly declined in recent months.

Since October last year, the violence has claimed the lives of 238 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.