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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Sunday evening attacked and stabbed a Palestinian in the illegal settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank just hours after an Israeli was allegedly stabbed in the area.

A Ma'an reporter said that the Palestinian, who was working in the settlement, was lightly wounded on his hand and had managed to escape his attackers.

Just hours before, an Israeli settler in his 20s was allegedly stabbed and moderately injured by a suspected Palestinian at a road junction outside Ariel settlement.

Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said that the attacker "fled the scene near Ariel junction" and Israeli forces were searching the area.

Settler violence has seen a dramatic rise in recent weeks after two Israeli settlers were shot dead south of Nablus at the beginning of October.

Last week Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer for Palestine to the UN, asked the UN Security Council to intervene in order to stop aggression by settlers, including the implementation of a measure to disarm settlers.