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Scene. Published by Maan News
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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian youth was shot and injured by Israeli forces on Wednesday at the Gush Etzion junction south of Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank, for allegedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack.

Israeli media reported that the youth disembarked from a bus at the Etzion bus station carrying a knife and was immediately shot by Israeli soldiers in the area.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that an assailant armed with a knife ran towards Israeli forces stationed at the junction, and “in response to the immediate threat forces fired shots towards the suspect, who was injured and taken to the hospital.”

However, witnesses told Ma’an that the youth, who remained unidentified, was crossing the street running to catch another bus that was departing when Israeli soldiers opened fire at him.

A number of Palestinians have been arrested, shot, or killed by Israeli forces for allegedly attempting to carry out attacks or being in possession of a knife at the Gush Etzion junction.

In July, 24-year-old Abdullah Ali Mahmoud Taqatqa was shot and killed at the junction for allegedly attempting to attack soldiers in the area.

Though Israeli forces have claimed that Palestinians were allegedly attempting to carry out attacks in a majority of instances when Palestinians were killed, rights groups have disputed Israel's version of events in a number of cases, and argued that many alleged attackers could have been subdued in a non-lethal manner.