Zionist regime forces detain Palestinian youth over alleged stabbing attack

Zionist regime military forces have arrested a young Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank over an alleged stabbing attack against an illegal female settler amid ongoing tensions between Israeli troopers and Palestinian protesters in the occupied territories.

Zionist regime army said on Tuesday that the unidentified youth is suspected of stabbing and killing an Israeli woman, identified as 38-year-old Dafna Meir, after breaking into a home in the illegal Israeli settlement of Otniel, which lies south of the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron).

On Monday, a Palestinian man was shot and injured in the central West Bank city of Bethlehem, located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south of al-Quds (Jerusalem), following an alleged stabbing assault.

An unnamed Israeli army spokesperson said the man broke into a building in the illegal Israeli settlement of Tekoa, and wounded a pregnant 30-year-old Israeli woman, before being shot and injured. The woman reportedly sustained moderate wounds.

Palestinian protesters use slingshots to throw stones toward Israeli forces during clashes in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem, January 13, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
Tensions have been running high in the occupied West Bank since Israel’s imposition in August of restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem). Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam.

The restrictions have enraged Palestinians, who are also angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers frequently storming the mosque. They say the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status of the compound.

More than 160 Palestinians, including children and women, have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of last October.