Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian woman who stabbed a soldier at a West Bank checkpoint today and a militant group said she had been on her way to carry out a suicide attack in Israel.
A recent slew of violence has frayed a seven-month-old truce and damaged hopes that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last month could open the way for a revival of peacemaking with the Palestinians.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah movement, said 36-year-old Haifa Hindiya, a mother of five, was on a suicide mission to avenge the killing of two gunmen by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank last week.
"We are not committed to the truce and we will not respect it. We will continue resisting and fighting the Zionist occupation ... She (Hindiya) was on her way to committing a martyrdom (suicide) attack," the group said in a statement.
An army commander said the attacker was knocked to the ground after stabbing and lightly wounding a female soldier and that troops opened fire when the Palestinian woman, still armed with a knife, tried to get up to attack them.
The army said that no sign of explosives for carrying out a suicide bombing had been found on the assailant.
A Palestinian witness, who did not want to give his name, said troops had hit the woman with their guns when she was on the ground.
"They hit her with their guns several times. She tried to stand up immediately. Two soldiers then opened fire at her and killed her," the witness said.
Medics said she was treated at the Hawara checkpoint, but died of her wounds.
An army commander who gave his name as Major Yaniv said a preliminary investigation showed that soldiers opened fire when the woman tried to attack them again.
Israel has imposed a closure on the West Bank during the Jewish holiday season, which began with the new year at sundown on Monday. The tightened security measures affect even the few Palestinians who get permits to visit Israel.
Israel launched a major offensive last month following rocket fire from Gaza, but scaled back airstrikes on Gaza and arrest raids in the West Bank following a halt to rocket attacks.
Israeli officials said they wanted to give Abbas a chance to prevent the attacks himself.