Jerusalem: A Palestinian attempted to stab an Israeli in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday and Israeli forces opened fire, wounding the intended victim and the attacker, the army said.
Jerusalem`s Shaarei Tzedek hospital, where both men were taken, said the Israeli was in "critical condition" while the assailant was moderately wounded.
"An assailant attempted to stab an Israeli at the Gush Etzion junction," an army statement said.
"Forces at the scene fired toward the assailant in order to thwart the attack. As a result the Israeli was injured. The Israeli and the assailant were both evacuated to hospital."
A wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming assaults that erupted in October has claimed the lives of 27 Israelis, as well as an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean.
The violence has also seen 176 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, most while carrying out attacks but others during clashes and demonstrations, according to an AFP count.
The Etzion bloc of Israeli settlements, in the southern West Bank between Bethlehem and the flashpoint city of Hebron, has been a focal point of the unrest.
