IDF: Palestinian tries to stab troops at West Bank bus stop, is shot dead

A Palestinian man was shot dead as he attempted to stab soldiers at a bus stop in the central West Bank on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said.

No Israeli injuries were reported.

“The assailant got out of a car, armed with a knife, and tried to stab an IDF soldier,” the military said.

The soldier opened fire at the man, killing him, according to the IDF. The knife was recovered at the scene.

Troops launched a search to find the car that transported the assailant to the scene, setting up roadblocks in the area.

Video footage from the scene showed the alleged assailant lying on the ground but moving, after he was shot, next to a bus stop full of soldiers near the Gush Etzion Junction in the central West Bank.

The soldiers guarding the bus stop were reservists, who were deployed to the area last week.

The attempted attack came amid a general lull in attacks by Palestinians against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the West Bank, following a rise in violence at the end of last year.