Palestinian stabs Israeli soldier in West Bank

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday and was shot dead, the army said.

An army statement said Israeli forces had been chasing a group of alleged rock throwers who were in a car.

"One of the assailants exited the vehicle and stabbed a soldier," it said. "Responding, the soldier fired towards the perpetrator, resulting in his death."

The soldier was taken to hospital for treatment, the statement said, without giving details on his condition.

The attack took place close to the Israeli settlement of Ariel, near the Palestinian city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

A wave of violence since October has killed 221 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP tally.

Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities say, with the majority of them from the West Bank.