Israeli army: Palestinian shot trying to stab soldier

JERUSALEM – Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian who tried to stab a soldier in the West Bank, the military said Tuesday, as it investigates soldiers’ conduct during a violent Palestinian demonstration the day before.

The military said in a statement that troops responded to an “imminent threat” on Tuesday when a Palestinian armed with a knife tried to stab a soldier at a crossing in the West Bank.

Later, video footage emerged showing forces dragging a wounded Palestinian away from a violent demonstration on Monday with his head bumping the ground several times on the way.

The military said “hundreds of violent rioters hurled rocks at security forces” at the demonstration and “due to the extent of the violence” border police shot and wounded “a main violent instigator.”

Soldiers “attempted to give emergency medical assistance and in the process of evacuation came under a barrage of rocks from the rioters,” the military statement said. “The rocks endangered the well-being of the forces and caused them to hastily evacuate the wounded under the barrage. Once in a safe location the medical forces treated the rioter and eventually determined his death.”

The military is investigating the incident, it said.

The violent incidents were the latest in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that erupted in the fall of 2015. In that time, Palestinian attackers have carried out numerous stabbings, shootings and car-ramming assaults against civilians and security forces that killed 40 Israelis and two visiting Americans. Israeli forces killed 233 Palestinians in the same period, most identified by Israel as attackers, while the rest took part in violent demonstrations or clashes with security forces.

Israel says the violence is fueled by a Palestinian campaign of incitement compounded on social media sites that glorify and encourage attacks. Palestinians say it stems from frustration over decades of Israeli rule in territory they claim for a state.