RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian was shot dead on Saturday after stabbing an Israeli paramilitary policeman patrolling a road in the occupied West Bank, police said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the shooting near the city of Nablus as "grave escalation".
The incident came hours after the Israeli army said that another Palestinian was shot and wounded after stabbing a soldier at a checkpoint on a highway in the West Bank.
In both cases, the Israeli personnel were lightly hurt.
With U.S.-sponsored peace negotiations stalled since April 2014, violence has simmered in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among territories where Palestinians seek statehood.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA initially identified the dead Palestinian as 16-year-old Ahmed Kamel Rafiq al-Taj, but his family relatives said that was incorrect. His name, several of his relatives told Reuters, was Rafiq Kamel Rafiq and he was 21 years old.
Abbas's office said in a statement that the president held the Israeli government responsible for the death.
"The crime was a continuation of the daily killing which no one can be silent at," said the statement published by WAFA.