Trigger-happy Israelis kill one more Palestinian

Occupied Jerusalem — Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager who allegedly tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday. “An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab an IDF (Israel Defense Force) soldier at a checkpoint at the entrance to (the village of) Bani Naim,” an Israeli army statement said. “Responding to the immediate threat, forces fired at the assailant, resulting in his death.” The Palestinian health ministry identified the teenager as Issa Tarayra, 16, from Bani Naim. Tuesday’s incident was the ninth since Friday. The upsurge has shattered several weeks of relative calm. The recent attacks have mostly taken place in and around Hebron in the occupied West Bank and in annexed east Jerusalem. Israeli authorities closed Palestinian shops in the area. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the closures were ordered for officers to search the area, but some shop owners questioned whether it was punishment for the alleged stabbing. The alleged assailant in that case was shot and seriously wounded. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was the possibility of a “copycat effect” of one attack influencing another. Since October, 230 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count. — AFP