A Palestinian man with a knife in his hand falls after being shot by Israeli Border Police officers near Ramallah, Dec. 15, 2017. Photo: Reuters / Goran Tomasevic.

An Israeli Border Police officer was stabbed and moderately wounded on Friday by a Palestinian assailant during a riot near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The attacker — a male who appeared to be wearing a bomb belt — was shot by other officers at the scene. He was subsequently transported to a hospital by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Israeli authorities were seeking to determine whether the belt the man was wearing contained real explosives.

According to media reports, the stabber may have pretended to be a journalist to get close to the group of Border Police officers, who were deployed at a main road junction between Ramallah and Beit El.

Later on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “I praise the actions of the Border Police force that took out the terrorist at Judea and Samaria Circle and I send my wishes for a speedy recovery to the fighter who was wounded in the attack. Thank you to our forces who protect us around the clock. All of us salute you!”

אני משבח את פעילות כוח מג״ב שחיסל את המחבל בכיכר איו״ש ושולח איחולי החלמה ללוחם שנפצע בפיגוע. תודה לכוחותינו ששומרים עלינו מסביב לשעון. כולנו מצדיעים לכם!

— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) December 15, 2017

The incident took place amid a surge of wider unrest in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as a second week of demonstrations against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital got underway.

The IDF said around 3,500 Palestinians participated in riots on the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Friday, and another 2,500 joined disturbances in the West Bank.

Reuters — citing Palestinian medical officials — reported that more than 40 Palestinians were wounded in Friday’s clashes with Israeli security forces.