Israeli police say woman with knife shot dead in West Bank

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Israeli police said a Palestinian woman carrying a knife ran toward an Israeli military checkpoint on Saturday and was shot dead by a private security guard.

The shooting took place at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Jerusalem one of the largest in the occupied West Bank. Amateur video posted online showed the woman lying on the ground at the crossing. Police identified her as a 28-year-old resident of a West Bank refugee camp.

The woman was the fifth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank this week. On Thursday, three Palestinians, including two members of the Palestinian security forces, were shot dead during a raid by Israeli undercover troops in the town of Jenin On Friday, a 15-year-old boy was killed by soldiers during protests against a settler outpost near the town of Beita.

Starting five years ago, Palestinians launched a series of stabbing and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Rights groups have alleged that Israeli troops often use excessive force against Palestinians.

The violence takes place in the context of the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Talks about setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel faltered years ago, while Israeli settlement expansion on war-won land continues. The Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.