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A photo reportedly showing slain Palestinian Jihad Muhammad Said Khalil. Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli security guards shot and killed a Palestinian at the Qalandiya checkpoint between the central occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem on Monday around 10:30 a.m.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Ma'an that a Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli security forces at the checkpoint, and that forces shot the suspect.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri confirmed shortly afterwards that the suspect was killed, saying "a Palestinian pedestrian approached a security guard in a path for vehicles welding a knife and was neutralized."

According to Al-Samri, the Palestinian approached the area where security guards were located at the checkpoint and, prompting the guards to ask for identification. A guard then noticed that one of the Palestinian’s hands was in his pocket, and the Palestinian then reportedly took out a knife and tried to stab him.

Al-Samri added that the guard and the Palestinian engaged in a fistfight before the Palestinian was shot and killed.

No other injuries were reported, and the checkpoint was closed off, Rosenfeld added.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the slain Palestinian as Jihad Muhammad Said Khalil, 48, from the village of Beit Wazan in the West Bank district of Nablus.

According to Ma'an documentation, Khalil is the latest of 240 Palestinians to have been killed by Israelis since the beginning of a wave of unrest across the occupied Palestinian territory in October 2015, the majority of whom were shot dead by Israeli forces.

Six Palestinians have been killed at the Qalandiya checkpoint alone in that time period, and 12 have been killed by security guards.

During the same time period, 34 Israelis have been killed by Palestinians.
Throughout the unrest, rights groups have repeatedly denounced what they have termed Israeli forces' "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians who did not constitute a threat at the time of their death or who could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.

While Israel alleges many of those were attempting to attack Israelis when they were shot, Palestinians and rights groups have disputed Israel's version of events in a number of cases.