Israeli soldiers shot 2 Palestinians who attacked them, military says

Near Hebron, West Bank: The Israeli army said that its soldiers shot two Palestinians who tried to shoot and stab them in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, and the Palestinian health ministry said both men had died.

"One of the terrorists attempted to stab IDF soldiers that were in the area, who responded with live fire and neutralized him," the Israeli military said.

"At the same time, the other terrorist opened fire at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and neutralized him too."

A I cameraman saw a body at the scene of the incident - a junction near the Palestinian city of Hebron.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA, quoting local sources, said that Israeli forces shot the two men near the West Bank city of Hebron, and that ambulance crews were prevented from reaching them.

Palestinian security sources told WAFA that the two men, aged 18 and 19, died and that they were still unable to collect their bodies.

Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, has escalated since with frequent army raids on militant groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages and Palestinian street attacks.

On Saturday, Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank, while an ambulance driver was killed as he went to pick up wounded from a separate attack by violent Jewish settlers, Palestinian authorities said.

Israeli forces began an extended raid in the early hours of Friday in the Nur Shams area, near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Tulkarm and exchanged fire with armed fighters well into Saturday.

Thousands of Palestinians have been arrested and hundreds killed during regular operations in the West Bank by Israeli army and police since the start of the Gaza war on Oct 7, mostly members of armed groups, but also stone-throwing youths and uninvolved civilians.

The West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel captured in a 1967 war, are among the lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state. US-brokered peace talks broke down a decade ago.