JERUSALEM, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- A knife-wielding Palestinian youth seriously wounded an Israeli man in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday morning, the military said.
The incident took place at the Harim shopping center at the Gush Etzion Junction, a major settlement bloc in the central West Bank.
"A terrorist arrived at a mall adjacent to the junction armed with a knife and stabbed a civilian, severely injuring him," a military spokesperson said in a statement.
Another civilian at the scene "neutralized" the assailant, the spokesperson added without elaborating.
Israeli emergency service identified the injured as a man in his 40s. He was rushed to a hospital in Jerusalem in a critical condition, according to a statement released by the service.
Israeli media reported the assailant is a 16-year-old boy from the Palestinian village of Yatta.
"IDF (Israel Defense Forces) troops are operating at the scene," the military said.
The incident came amidst tensions between Israel and the Palestinians over anti-Israel protests which killed at least 176 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the U.S. defunding of the UN Palestinian refugee agency of UNRWA, and the long-stalled peace talks.
