Israeli settler dies after stabbing in occupied West Bank

An Israeli settler has died after an alleged stabbing attack by a Palestinian who was then shot and wounded in the occupied West Bank, according to reports.

The incident on Sunday took place near a shopping centre in the illegal settlement of Gush Etzion, near Bethlehem.

The settler was identified as Ari Fuld, a US-born Jewish man who was reportedly an outspoken anti-Palestinian activist on social media and had, at times, his Facebook account suspended. His death was was confirmed in a statement from Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek medical centre.

Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, described the alleged attacker as a “young man” from the village of Yatta, near Hebron.

It said he was lightly wounded after being shot by Israeli forces. Other reports said the Palestinian was first shot by Fuld, who then collapsed, and later by other settlers.

Maan news agency cited local sources as naming the Palestinian as 17-year-old Khalil Yousef Ali Jabarin. He was detained by Israeli forces and taken to an unknown location, the sources added.

Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the Hamas group that rules the besieged Gaza Strip, called the incident a “natural response to Israeli crimes against Palestinians” in occupied territory. It did not claim responsibility for the attack.

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and seen as major stumbling block to peace efforts as they are built on Palestinian land occupied by Israel.

On Twitter, David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel and a strong supporter of the settlements, called Fuld “a passionate defender of Israel & an American patriot”.

A wave of Palestinian knife attacks against Israelis broke out in 2015, but they have since become sporadic.

On September 3, a Palestinian wielding a knife approached an Israeli military checkpoint near the hardline Kiryat Arba settlement in the Hebron area and was shot dead by soldiers, according to the army.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies