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Israeli forces shot and seriously injured a 16-year-old Palestinian after an alleged stabbing attempt in Hebron on Dec. 13, 2015. (Walla News)
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HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces shot and seriously injured a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after an alleged stabbing attempt, locals and the Israeli army said.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that “a Palestinian armed with knife attempted to stab a pedestrian in Hebron, when forces on site responded to the threat and shot the assailant.”

The Palestinian was evacuated by an Israeli ambulance to Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karem in West Jerusalem, the spokesperson added.

Local sources in Hebron identified the teenage girl as 16-year-old Lama Munthir Hafith al-Bakri.

The attack reportedly took place near the western entrance of the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement, which lies northwest of Hebron’s Old City.

According to Israeli media, the teenager attempted to stab an Israeli settler near the Givat Ramot neighborhood of the illegal settlement before being shot near a car repair shop in the area.

The alleged attack attempt is the latest to take place in the occupied Palestinian territory, where an escalation of violence that kicked off in October has continued full-fledged into December.

Hebron’s Old City, nearby where Sunday’s incident took place, was designated a “closed military zone” last month in the wake of attacks in the area.

Palestinians living in the Hebron area have since come under severe restrictions on movement, arrest raids, and invasive security checks by Israeli forces.

The recent violence has left at least 118 Palestinians killed by Israeli military and settlers and 19 Israelis killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals.

Over 30 Palestinians killed have been from the Hebron area, where a Palestinian family on Friday buried its second child to be killed by Israeli forces in the last two months.

Uday Irsheid, 24, was shot in the chest by Israeli military forces during clashes just weeks after his 17-year-old sister Dania was shot dead after police said they "saw a knife in her hand" at a military checkpoint in Hebron's Old City.

The circumstances of several deaths since Oct. 1 have been widely disputed by critics who say that Israel has implemented a "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians.

The Executive Director of Israeli rights group B'Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, said last week that the policy is being used against Palestinians who have already been “neutralized" during attacks.

El-Ad said in a statement that Israeli soldiers and police officers effectively became “judge, jury and executioner” after the policy was encouraged by senior Israeli politicians and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

PLO Central Council member Muhammad Eshteyyah in a press conference last week said that 85 percent of Palestinian deaths to take place since Oct. 1 could have been prevented if the “shoot-to-kill” policy was not implemented.