RAMALLAH
A Palestinian young man on Sunday stabbed an Israeli settler with a knife in the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, an eyewitness said.
The motivations behind the attack were not immediately clear, but it comes amid high tension in the Palestinian territories on the background of Israel's current onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Since July 7, Israel has been pounding the Gaza Strip, home to some 1.8 million Palestinians, with crippling air and naval bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire emanating from the strip.
On Thursday night, Israel stepped up its offensive to include ground operations, sending troops into the embattled coastal enclave.
At least 425 Gazans were killed in the Israeli operation so far and 3008 injured.
On Sunday, the Palestinian young man stabbed the Israeli settler near the Beitar Illit settlement, which is constructed on a Palestinian land in Bethlehem, the eyewitness said.
He said the settler was wounded in his shoulder as a result.
The eyewitness added that an ambulance had arrived to the site of the attack and took the victim to hospital to receive treatment, while search has started for the Palestinian assailant.
By Qais Abu Samra
www.aa.com.tr/en
