JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli troops shot and killed a knife-wielding Palestinian woman in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The Israeli military said that an assailant armed with a knife approached a soldier “conducting routine security activity” north of the West Bank city of Hebron and that soldiers opened fire. It said that no soldiers were hurt in the incident.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the woman, identified as Ghafran Warasna, died after she was shot in the chest near the Al Aroub refugee camp.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said that Warasna, 31, was released from Israeli prison in April after serving three months.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has intensified in recent weeks with near-daily arrest raids by the Israeli military in Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank following a string of deadly attacks by Palestinians that left at least 19 Israelis dead.
Tensions have soared following the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked for Al Jazeera, and an Israeli ultranationalist march through a Palestinian thoroughfare in east Jerusalem.
Recent weeks have seen at least 35 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. Many of them were carrying out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank. But Abu Akleh, an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed. Rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.
