Palestinian killed in Hebron after 2 Israelis stabbed, injured

DEC. 9, 2015 2:04 P.M. (UPDATED: DEC. 10, 2015 12:48 P.M.)

Israeli soldiers stand guard near the site where a Palestinian attempted to stab a soldier before being shot dead in the West Bank city of Hebron on October 28, 2015. (AFP Photo/Hazem Bader)

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- A Palestinian was shot and killed Wednesday after reportedly stabbing two Israelis in Hebron’s Old City, locals and the Israeli army said.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that “an assailant stabbed two Israelis” before being shot on scene.

Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom confirmed that paramedics treated two Israelis, one who sustained moderate wounds, the other left with “mild” injuries.

A Hebron local, Mufid al-Sharabati, told Ma’an that he saw Israeli soldiers putting the body of the killed Palestinian in a plastic bag following the attack.

Al-Sharabati said that at least one of those injured in the attack was an Israeli soldier, and he believed the other to be an Israeli settler.

Large numbers of Israeli soldiers arrived to the area following the incident, raiding and searching several Palestinian homes while assaulting residents, al-Sharabati added.

The Palestinian who reportedly carried out the attack was identified as Abdul-Rahman Yusri Maswada.

Abdul was the cousin of Ihab Zakariya Maswada, 21, who was killed by Israeli forces on Monday after he stabbed an Israeli near Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque.

Wednesday’s incident marks the fourth Palestinian to be killed while carrying out attacks in Hebron’s Old City during the last week alone.

The area grew as the epicenter of recent violence over the last two months, and roughly 30 percent of the 115 Palestinians to be killed since Oct. 1 were from the Hebron district.

Hebron’s city center is home to some 800 notoriously aggressive Israeli settlers, who live under the protection of thousands of Israeli forces, surrounded by more than 30,000 Palestinians.

Areas surrounding Hebron’s Old City were declared a closed military zone by the Israeli military on Nov. 1, severely restricting movement of Palestinian residents of the area.