Israeli forces kill Palestinian woman near Nablus

The Israeli army has killed a Palestinian woman in a northern town of the occupied West Bank for allegedly carrying out a stabbing attack.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the woman as Iman Ziyad Odeh and said she was killed by "a bullet to the chest fired by the occupation soldiers in Huwara, south of Nablus" on Thursday.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency that an Israeli force shot the 26-year-old woman dead and prevented Palestinians from reaching her.

The Israeli army radio claimed that the woman stabbed an Israeli soldier, who was "lightly injured" and taken to hospital for treatment near the Huwara checkpoint in southern Nablus. The attacker was “neutralised”, it added.

Israeli raid on Nablus

Tensions have risen in the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli forces raids into Palestinian towns.

In February, scores of Israeli settlers went on a rampage in Huwara. In retaliation for the killing of two Israelis, more than 350 Palestinians were injured, and dozens of homes and vehicles were set on fire.

The bloodshed on Thursday erupted just hours after an Israeli raid on Nablus. Three Palestinians were killed by security forces in the occupied West Bank last month for allegedly being involved in an attack that killed three settlers.

Israeli fire has killed more than 100 Palestinians since the beginning of this year, according to Palestinian figures. Sixteen Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.