Two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in West Bank

Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli police on Tuesday, after allegedly trying to stab pedestrians close to two Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The first incident occurred near the Gush Etzion bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem when a Palestinian allegedly attempted to stab a pedestrian at a junction.

He was shot dead by an Israeli soldier, police and the army said.

The other Palestinian killed has later named as a 20-year-old woman, Maram Ramez Abed Hassouna.

She was from Nablus and was said to have been previously jailed by Israeli forces.

They had allegedly sought to carry out a stabbing near the Israeli settlement of Einav in northern West Bank, before being shot.

Israeli authorities did not immediately provide further details about the incident.

Since 1 October, 102 Palestinians have been killed, as well as 17 Israelis, a US citizen and an Eritrean.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to step up punitive measures against Palestinians since outbreaks of violence in the West Bank, and in the face of overwhelming opposition from the international community.

Both Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also came under fire after they shook hands at the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris on Monday.

Relations between Netanyahu and Abbas have been strained in recent years and the handshake is said to tbe the first in five years between leaders of the two countries.

Netanyahu was quick to dismiss the handshake as anything more than "protocol".

"It was purely protocol, not a working meeting," the Israeli leaders told reporters in Paris.

"So we shook hands, that's crystal clear. But we didn't talk," he said, adding that there were no plans for a meeting between the two leaders.

Netenyahu did say, however, that hoped that he hoped the under-pressure Palestinian Authority will collpase or disbanded warning against a "worse alternative" to the authority.

"It's important for the world to see that we're always willing to talk. But on the other hand, I have no illusions about Abu Mazen [Abbas]," he added. 

"Incitement plays a central role in [fostering] terrorism and Abu Mazen must stop his incitement and stop spreading lies."

Israel has also come under pressure from outside powers including the European Union after the trade bloc decided to label goods from Jewish settlements.

Netanyahu ordered the "suspension of diplomatic contacts with the institutions of the European Union and its representatives on this issue," the foreign ministry said in a statement, according to AFP.