Members of Israeli border police patrol near the scene of a security incident at an Israeli military base near Jenin in the West Bank, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

i24 News – An attempted stabbing attack adjacent to Gitai Avisar Junction in the West Bank was thwarted on Friday, Israel’s army (IDF) reported.

According to the initial report, Palestinian suspects drove and stopped adjacent to a military post on the Gitai Avisar Junction.

The assailant exited the vehicle, armed with a knife, and ran towards a bus station where Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers were standing.

The IDF troops shot and neutralized the attacker, who was pronounced dead later at a hospital, and no other injuries were reported.

Additional IDF soldiers in the area blocked off a number of routes and are currently pursuing the vehicle of additional suspects.

The attempted attack is the latest in a surge of violent instances in the West Bank.

An Israeli man was killed and two others wounded on December 16 after gunmen shot a vehicle entering the West Bank settlement of Homesh.

A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man in the southern West Bank city of Hebron two days later, and a Palestinian was killed east of Ramallah in a gunfight with Israeli troops five days after that.

Despite unprecedented calm in Gaza since the May conflict, the Palestinian militant faction Hamas is reportedly pushing for tensions to escalate in the West Bank.