A Palestinian assailant has reportedly tried to stab an Israeli security officer over the weekend, after which the latter opened fire and killed the attacker. Police spokesperson Luba Samri said the Palestinian man approached the officer, pulled a knife from under his shirt and lunged at him. Adding that during a struggle between the two, the assailant was shot and neutralized. The incident is part of a wave of violence, which started in October of last year, during which Palestinian stabbings, car rammings and shooting attacks have killed some 33 Israelis and two visiting Americans. Over that same period, some 229 Palestinians have been killed. Israel says that 155 of them were killed as they committed an act of terror against Israelis, while the other 74 were killed during violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Israel says one of the main causes of the violence is incitement by the Palestinian leadership, with young men encouraged to attack Israeli soldiers and civilians, while the Palestinian leadership claims the assailants have acted out of desperation, frustrated by the Israeli so-called occupation of the West Bank and the annexation of East Jerusalem – territories the Palestinian leadership demands as part of any future Palestinian state.
