Israeli civilian kills two Palestinians after alleged West Bank stabbing, army says

An Israeli civilian killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank after they allegedly stabbed another Israeli near a settlement, the Israeli military said.

The military said a fire broke out near the community of Itamar on Thursday. It said two Palestinians stabbed an Israeli civilian during attempts to extinguish the fire. The military said another Israeli saw the attack and killed the two Palestinians, but it did not say how they were killed.

Israeli police said the stabbing happened while Israelis were trying to extinguish a fire that had apparently been set there. A medic with the Magen David Adom emergency service said the wounded Israeli had been stabbed in the chest and was taken to hospital in serious condition.

Yossi Dagan, the head of the administrative body representing Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, visited the scene and called for the Israeli government to respond "with an iron fist". Dagan said the two Palestinians came from the village of Beit Furik and alleged that residents of the village had carried out the arson attack.

The military said Israeli police and the fire service were investigating the circumstances of the blaze.

Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the start of the war in Gaza. Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank alongside about three million Palestinians. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

Official Israeli figures show that at least 46 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations since the start of the Gaza war. An AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data says Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,090 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, over the same period.