Israel kills Palestinian accused of trying to stab soldier

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead after he was accused by the Israeli army of trying to stab a soldier on Tuesday while an Israeli aircraft had apparently intercepted a drone launched by Hamas.

According to the Israeli army, the attempted stabbing took place outside Bani Na'im, a village in the occupied West Bank near Hebron.

The Palestinian health ministry said the teenager was just 16-years-old.

Six Palestinians and a Jordanian have been killed by the Israeli army since Friday, in incidents which Israel says wounded at least nine Israelis.

Palestinian leaders say the attacks are a result of desperation over the collapse in 2014 of peace talks and Israeli settlement expansion on occupied land that Palestinians are seeking for an independent state.

Hamas, the organisation which rules the Gaza Strip, declined to comment on the drone which was apprently intercepted off the coast of the enclave by the Israeli army.

Palestinians have accused Israel of using excessive force and say that some of those killed over the past year posed no threat or had no intention of attacking anyone.

In some cases, Israel has opened investigations into whether excessive force was used.

On Monday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the West Bank while two Israeli police officers were stabbed near the Old City of Jerusalem.

Israel Detains 37 Palestinians

The Israeli army also rounded up 37 Palestinians in yet another overnight raid conducted in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

"Israeli troops detained 28 Palestinians after raiding their homes in the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin and Al-Khalil [Hebron]," the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

"Another nine Palestinians were arrested when Israeli forces raided their homes in the village of Issawiya in East Jerusalem," the NGO added.

The Israeli army has detained thousands of Palestinians including minors in similar raids routinely carried out in the occupied territories.

Over 7,000 Palestinians are currently languishing in prisons throughout the Jewish state, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs.

Hunger Strike

At least 120 Palestinians in Israeli jails have declared an indefinite hunger strike to demand the release of three fellow prisoners who continue to languish in "administrative detention".

A statement issued by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)'s committee on detainees said Tuesday that 120 Palestinian prisoners in jails throughout Israel had begun refusing food to demand the release of three fellow inmates -- Mohamed Balboul, 25; Mahmoud Balboul, 22; and Malek al-Qadi, 19.

They also demanded an end to Israel's longstanding policy of administrative detention, the statement added.

Committee head Issa Qaraqe said the three imprisoned Palestinians were suffering from rapidly deteriorating health.

Balboul began his own hunger strike 78 days ago to protest his ongoing detention without charge or trial.

His brother Mahmoud joined him three days later.

Al-Qadi, for his part, is now in his 67th day of hunger strike.

Earlier this month, the trio rejected an Israeli Supreme Court decision to "temporarily" suspend their administrative detention.

They vowed to continue their hunger strikes until the administrative detention orders issued against them were permanently overturned.

Under Israel's administrative detention policy, prisoners can be held for up to one year without charge or trial.

According to official Palestinian figures, roughly 700 Palestinians are being held in administrative detention.