Jerusalem // The Israeli army said a Palestinian militant broke into a West Bank Jewish settlement on Sunday and stabbed a woman to death in her home - the first such incident in a months-long wave of violence.
The military said the attacker broke into the woman’s home in Otniel, killed her and fled the scene.
Otniel is located near the city of Hebron in the south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“Forces are in pursuit of the terrorist,” the military said.
Palestinians in neighbouring villages said a major manhunt was under way, with army helicopters in the sky and heavy movement of military vehicles.
The incident was the latest in more than three months of attacks but the first in the current wave of violence to take place inside a settlement home.
In a separate incident earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military shot dead a Palestinian who allegedly tried to stab soldiers in the West Bank.
The military says Sunday’s stabbing attempt took place near a base south of the West Bank city of Nablus. No soldiers were harmed in the incident.
Since October 1, 155 Palestinians and 24 Israelis have been killed of which about 100 are said by Israel to have been attackers. Many of the Palestinians killed since October have been alleged attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli forces during protests and clashes.
Hebron, where several hundred Israeli settlers live in the city centre among around 200,000 Palestinians, has been a flashpoint in a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that began in October.
Israel’s government has come under heavy pressure over the continuing stabbings, and Sunday’s killing was likely to further boost tensions.
Most of the stabbings have occurred in public places, including checkpoints, junctions and entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City, and they have rarely been fatal.
A large number of the Palestinian attackers have been young people, including teenagers. Some of them have attempted attacks with kitchen knives in what some analysts have described as virtual suicide missions.
Analysts say the attacks have been in part driven by frustration with the complete lack of progress in peace efforts, Israel’s continuing occupation of the West Bank and their own fractured Palestinian leadership.
Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and news media has been a main cause of the violence.
While attacks have become less frequent in recent weeks, they have continued, defying increased Israeli security measures.
International efforts to end the violence have failed.
US secretary of state John Kerry warned in November after holding separate talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas that the conflict was at a “pivotal point” and could worsen beyond repair unless both sides make rapid compromises.
* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
