The Israeli military said soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian woman after she attacked them with a knife in the occupied West Bank late on Monday.
The woman was hospitalized after being shot in her "lower body" near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the military said in a statement early Tuesday. A military spokesman said he was not aware of her current condition. No Israeli soldiers were wounded in the incident.
Palestinians have carried out dozens of car-ramming, shooting and stabbing attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in recent years, mostly in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups say soldiers often use excessive force, reported The Associated Press.
Israeli troops opened fire on a car in the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar last month, killing 12-year-old Mohammed al-Alami as he and his family were driving to the store to get snacks. The killing set off two days of protests in which another Palestinian was killed during clashes with Israeli troops.
Israel says the family ignored orders from the troops to stop and that the soldiers only fired at the vehicle's tires. The vehicle was riddled with bullets, and the family said it was given no warning.
Another two Palestinians were shot and killed in recent weeks near the northern West Bank town of Beita, where stone-throwing protesters have repeatedly clashed with Israeli troops over a nearby settlement outpost established in May. Israeli troops also shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian during clashes in the West Bank village of Nebi Saleh, which has seen waves of protests over the years against a nearby settlement.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war and has established dozens of settlements where nearly 500,000 settlers reside. The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state and view the settlements as a major obstacle to resolving the conflict.
