Israeli guards kill Palestinian assailant in West Bank

JERUSALEM: Israeli security guards at a West Bank crossing into Israel shot dead a Palestinian assailant who ran at them with a knife on Friday, the Israeli defence ministry said.

Civilian guards employed by the MOD Crossing Points Authority called on the man to stop but when he kept coming he was shot and killed, the ministry said in a statement.

The incident took place just outside the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem.

The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that a man was killed by Israeli fire but did not immediately identify him.

In clashes Friday along the Gaza-Israel border Israeli troops injured 48 Palestinians, 15 of whom were hit by live fire, the health ministry said earlier, without giving their condition.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP that around 4,500 Palestinians staged disturbances along the border fence, some throwing petrol bombs and explosive devices. "A number of suspects breached the fence in the north of the strip but they immediately went back into the strip," she

said in Hebrew. "Response was with riot control means in accordance with the rules of engagement," she added.