Israeli woman killed in West Bank stabbing

Two Palestinians stab four Israelis in Tel Aviv and West Bank, a woman and one of the attackers are dead, police say. An Israeli woman has been killed and three other people wounded in separate stabbing incidents in Tel Aviv and the occupied West Bank, Israeli police have said. Monday's incidents came amid continuing tension in parts of Israel and the occupied territories following the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli soldiers last Wednesday. On Monday evening, a Palestinian man stabbed three Israelis at the entrance of the Alon Shvut settlement in the West Bank, Israeli police said, adding that the attacker was shot dead by a guard. A 25-year-old Israeli woman died in the incident and the other two victims have been hospitalised for moderate injuries. Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from Jerusalem, said that all of those stabbed in the West Bank were Israelis. "One of the guards stationed at the entrance shot the attacker," he said. "There are conflicting reports whether the Palestinian attacker was killed or is being treated in hospital." "Settlements are gated communities with armed guards and high walls with high protection," our correspondent said. Israeli media, quoting security sources, identified the attacker as Maher Hamdi Hashalamun, 30, from the southern Israeli city of Hebron. The suspect reportedly had served four and a half years in prison for throwing a fire bomb at Israeli security forces. Police spokesperson Luba Samri said: "A car stopped at the hitchhiking stop at the entrance to Alon Shvut, the driver got out of the car and stabbed three civilians who were standing there." Soldier stabbed Earlier on Monday, a Palestinian stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli soldier near a train station in Tel Aviv, according to the police. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, said officers had arrested the Tel Aviv attacker, who had stabbed the soldier several times, adding that he was a Palestinian from the town of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. "He is currently under interrogation," Rosenfeld said. According to a witness, who talked to Israeli radio, the attacker, ran in the direction of Levanda Street after the incident. "I chased him, and came back and saw the soldier writhing on the ground," the witness said. Soldier in grave condition A spokeswoman at the Tel Aviv hospital where the wounded soldier is being treated described his condition as grave, the AP news agency reported. He is reported to be in his twenties.