Israeli Officer Lightly Wounded in Stabbing Attack; Suspect Shot Dead

A Palestinian man was shot and killed after stabbing an Israeli officer Tuesday morning in the southern city of Ashkelon, police said. The officer was lightly wounded.

The man was identified as Abdullah Srour, a 40-year-old Palestinian from the Hebron area in the West Bank. Police said he was in Israel without a permit.

Emergency services reported that the officer, 37, was taken to the Barzilai Medical Center in the city.

Srour's relatives rejected the claim that he tried to carry out a politically-motivated attack. They said he had been working at construction sites in Ashkelon for four years, living in caravans in the area. They added that his wife and two-year-old son live in Jordan, and that Srour comes home every few weeks to give his family money.

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Workers from the site noted that there is an atmosphere of Israeli police having their "hand light on the trigger… they're tagging him as a terrorist and that's it."

According to the police, the officer spotted a person at a construction site who seemed suspicious and approached him to ask for details. During the officer's questioning, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed the officer in the head. The officer, lightly wounded, shot the man immediately.

On Sunday, a Jewish Israeli was shot dead after seizing a weapon from a soldier at a bus stop in Ashkelon.