Palestinian teen killed after 'stabbing' several Israelis to death

A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli forces after what they said was a stabbing attack that left three Israelis dead.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the Palestinian on Tuesday as Mohammed Souf, 18, without providing further details.

The Israeli army said the teenager allegedly killed three Israelis in the occupied West Bank, stabbing two men to death and knifing several others, then killing another with a stolen car before being shot dead himself.

The Israeli army reported a "stabbing attack" near the Ariel Industrial Zone in the northern West Bank, one of the largest illegal Israeli settler communities.

"A terrorist arrived at the entrance gate of the zone and stabbed civilians in the area," an army statement said.

Israeli emergency medical service Magen David Adom said a 36-year-old man died from a stab wound, while a second man, who was critically wounded, died at the scene. Two other people sustained serious stab wounds.

The attacker then headed to "a nearby gas station and stabbed additional civilians," the army said, and stole a car, and fled.

Another man stabbed on the highway was taken to the hospital in a serious condition, the emergency service added.

The army said a soldier then killed the attacker, adding that troops had launched a manhunt for a second individual suspected of involvement.

READ MORE: Israeli troops kill Palestinian teenage girl in occupied West Bank

'Painful reminder'

The deadly rampage came hours before Israel swore in its new parliament, with far-right lawmakers poised to be members of the cabinet vowing a crackdown on Palestine.

Violence in the occupied West Bank has soared since March, as Israel has launched near daily raids. 

The November 1 election saw outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid and his allies lose their majority in parliament, with former premier Benjamin Netanyahu and his partners securing 64 of the 120 seats.

Bezalel Smotrich, co-leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, which is set to become a key partner in the coalition Netanyahu is putting together, said the attack was a "painful reminder to the most urgent topic on our table."

"We must bring back security to all Israelis," he said on Twitter.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, and Gaza from Egypt in the 1967 Six-Day War.

It has annexed occupied East Jerusalem and claims the area — home to the city’s most important holy sites — as part of its capital. It considers the occupied West Bank to be “disputed” territory and has built scores of illegal Jewish settlements there.

Nearly 500,000 unlawful Jewish settlers currently live in the West Bank in communities considered illegal by most of the international community, alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians.

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