A member of the Israeli security forces was stabbed and seriously injured Friday in the West Bank town of Qalandia, a police spokeswoman said, adding that the Palestinian attacker was then gunned down.

The 28-year-old attacker, a Jerusalem native, approached an Israeli checkpoint and stabbed a member of the security forces, who was rushed to hospital. Fellow security forces members then shot the Palestinian dead, police said.

Violence since last October has killed 231 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count.

Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

Many analysts say Palestinian frustration with the Israeli occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have helped feed the unrest.

Israel says incitement by Palestinian leaders and media is a main cause of the violence.

Source: AFP