Israeli troops kill man after alleged attempted West Bank knife attack

Israeli forces killed a 23-year-old man in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after what the army claimed was an attempted stabbing without providing any evidence.

The Palestinian health ministry reported the death of Muhammad Wael al-Sharouf, "who was shot by (Israeli) forces north" of the city of Hebron.

The Israeli military claimed earlier on Sunday that its forces had "eliminated a terrorist who attempted to stab them in the area of Hebron".

It comes after the Palestinian civil affairs authority said on Saturday that Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old in an incident in the northern West Bank, after the military claimed an individual threw an explosive at soldiers.

"We informed the health ministry of the martyrdom of the boy Muhammad Iyad Abahra", by Israeli forces, in the town of Silat al-Harithiya in Jenin", said the agency, which is affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli army had claimed earlier on Saturday that soldiers killed an individual who had "hurled an explosive toward the soldiers" in Silat al-Harithiya.

"The soldiers responded with fire and eliminated the terrorist," it said.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence in the territory has surged since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.

It has not ceased despite the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that came into effect in October.

Israeli troops and settlers have killed over 1,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.