A Palestinian ran toward Israeli security forces brandishing a knife in the northern West Bank Thursday before being shot dead, the Israeli army said, the latest in more than two months of attacks.

"During routine security activity in Hawwara, forces spotted a suspect and approached in order to question him," the army said in a statement of the incident near Nablus in an area where Israeli settlers and Palestinians cross a military checkpoint.

It said the man ran towards the soldiers, who opened fire, "resulting in his death."

Palestinian security sources said Israeli authorities had taken the body of the attacker, whose identity and age were not yet provided.

Violence since the start of October has killed 120 on the Palestinian side, 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

Many of the Palestinians killed have been attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes.

Those carrying out stabbings have often been young Palestinians, including teenagers, who appear to be acting on their own.

A number of them have attempted attacks with kitchen knives in what some analysts have described as de facto suicide missions.

Palestinians have grown frustrated with Israel's occupation, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership, while international efforts to restore calm have so far failed.

On Wednesday, envoys of the international diplomatic quartet met senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem and were due to meet Palestinian officials on Thursday.

The quartet groups the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union in an effort to broker an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Source: AFP