Palestinian martyred by Israeli forces in West Bank

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian was martyred by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry said Rabi Arafah Rabi, 32, was hit by "a bullet to the head" at a checkpoint southeast of the city of Qalqilya.

The Israeli military said troops had fired on a vehicle carrying three people suspected of trying to enter Israel illegally after it failed to stop for inspection and instead moved off, hitting a soldier.

The soldier did not require medical attention, the army added.

Earlier on Saturday, police said officers "neutralised" a Palestinian stabbing suspect in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem after an attack that left an Israeli man in serious condition.

"The suspect stabbed a passer-by with a knife and fled" the scene north of the Old City, police said.

Following a brief manhunt, the suspect was "neutralised" in east Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, police said, without immediately elaborating on his condition or identity.

Violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has surged in recent months, amid an uptick in anti-Israeli attacks and near-daily raids by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

More than 115 Palestinian fighters and civilians have been killed this year, the heaviest toll in the West Bank for nearly seven years, according to the United Nations.