Israeli security forces shot and killed a Palestinian youth after he allegedly tried to stab them in West Bank on Thursday, the latest in a yearlong wave of violence.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in an emailed press release that it was informed that a Palestinian was killed after Israeli soldiers opened fire on him at an Israeli military checkpoint near Nablus city.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the suspect moved toward a group of border police, pulling out a knife; the police responded with gunfire, killing the man on the spot.

Governor of Nablus Akram Rajoub condemned the incident and told Xinhua that the Israeli army "targets Palestinian youth to kill them."

"We observe a systematic policy by the occupation army, giving clear directives to its soldiers to shoot to kill," Rajoub said. "Otherwise we would not have seen that the result of each shooting is death."

Two weeks ago, security guards shot dead another Palestinian youth after he allegedly pulled a knife at a guard in the Shuafat neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

A wave of violence in the West Bank and Israel has claimed the lives of at least 235 Palestinians and 34 Israelis since September 2015.

Israel says that most of the Palestinians were killed while perpetrating or attempting to perpetrate stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks.

The Palestinians and human rights organizations say that Israel is using excessive force to quell the uprising, and in many cases, kill Palestinians who could be stopped without using lethal force. Some of the casualties were mistaken to be attackers, according to Palestinian officials and rights groups.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

More than 5 million Palestinians now live in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

source: Xinhua