Palestinian man, woman shot dead by Israeli forces

WEST BANK — A Palestinian man and woman were shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Sunday. A military statement said the woman had allegedly tried to stab an Israeli. It added that the attack occurred at a junction south of Nablus, saying that “forces and a bystander responded to the immediate threat, shooting the attacker.” Palestinian security officials confirmed she had died of her wounds. A Jewish settler in the area, Gershon Mesika, said he hit the assailant with his car before a soldier shot her. “I broke to the right and hit her full-speed with the car. She fell and then a soldier came and finished the job.” Later a Palestinian man was shot dead after what Israeli police claimed that he tried to ram his taxi into civilians in the West Bank and charged at them with a knife. “A Palestinian man at Kfar Adumim junction in a Palestinian taxi tried to run over civilians. When he failed he exited the car with a knife and attempted to stab. The terrorist was shot by a civilian and died of his wounds,” a statement said. On Saturday night police arrested a Palestinian who allegedly stabbed four Israelis in southern city Kiryat Gat. The Shin Bet internal security service on Sunday identified the alleged assailant as Mohammad Tarda, 18, from a village near southern West Bank city Hebron. Eighty-two Palestinians in all have been killed by Israeli forces. The bloodshed has been driven in part by Muslim agitation over stepped-up Jewish visits to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Meanwhile, the US State Department said Secretary of State John Kerry would begin his Nov. 22-24 Middle East visit in Abu Dhabi, after which he would come to Israel and the Palestinian territories. A senior US official said Kerry would discuss ways of trying to stem the violence but would not try to renewed negotiations on a state that Palestinians seek in territories Israel captured in 1967. — Agencies