Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for stabbing attack

The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility Monday evening for the stabbing attack in southern West Bank, in which the attacker was killed after stabbing three Israelis.

The group said in an emailed press statement that Maher el- Hashlamon, an Islamic Jihad member and a former prisoner, was killed after he stabbed three Israelis and killed one of them, Xinhua reported.

"The stabbing operation is the best response to the crimes of the occupation against Jerusalem and against al-Aqsa Mosque," the statement said.

Meanwhile, an Israeli police spokeswoman said in a statement that the Israeli police shot and seriously wounded a Palestinian after he stabbed to death an Israeli girl and wounded two others north of Hebron.

She said that the Palestinian jumped out of his car and stabbed people gathering near the settlement of Alon Shabot, where he killed a 26-year-old woman and wounded two other Israelis.

An armed Israeli guard in the settlement immediately opened fire at the stabber and seriously wounded him, the spokeswoman said, adding that the two stabbed Israelis are in light and moderate condition.

Earlier Monday, a Palestinian man stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier in south of Tel Aviv in Israel, according to Israel Radio.

The radio, which quoted the Israeli police, said the stabber, a member of Hamas movement, was arrested following a short fighting with the police.

Residents in Nablus identified the young man as 18-year-old Noor al-Dein Abu Hashya from the Askar refugee camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

However, Hamas said in an emailed statement that "the resistance operations, carried out by individuals either in the West Bank or in Jerusalem, are a natural reaction to the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and their holy places."