News / Palestine

Israeli forces gun down Palestinian over alleged stabbing attempt

Tuesday, 17 January 2017 4:57 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 17 January 2017 6:44 PM ]

Handout photo shows Israeli ambulances at the scene of a shooting when Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man for alleged stabbing attack at a checkpoint near the city of Tulkarem, Tuesday, January 17, 2016.

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian over an alleged stabbing attempt in the occupied West Bank in yet another act of violence against Palestinians.

The incident took place at a checkpoint near the city of Tulkarem on Tuesday.

Local people later identified the victim as Nidal Daoud Mahdawi, 44.

Witnesses told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that Mahdawi approached the checkpoint, but gunshots were heard and the man was seen falling to the ground.

The Israeli army claimed in a statement that an assailant, who was “armed with a knife, attempted to stab an [Israeli] soldier,” and the Israeli forces "fired towards the attacker, resulting in his death."

Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that no Israelis were injured in the incident.

According to Ma'an news agency, Mahdawi is the fifth Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces in 2017.

Over the past months, Tel Aviv regime forces have fatally shot many Palestinians in the occupied territories, claiming that they sought to carry out attacks against Israelis.

Tel Aviv has come under fire for using violence against Palestinians and adopting a shoot-to-kill policy.

The occupied lands have witnessed tensions ever since Israeli forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem al-Quds in August 2015.

According to Palestinian media, over 270 Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of Israeli forces since October 2015, when the tensions intensified.

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