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 forces shot dead a Palestinian citizen accused of attempting to stab soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry and Israel's army have said.

The 's (PA) health ministry confirmed that "a citizen" had been shot dead by the "occupation forces" near Nablus.

Israel's military claimed soldiers "spotted an assailant who attempted to stab two (Israeli) soldiers".

Their commander "neutralised" the Palestinian, meaning the alleged assailant was shot, adding that no Israeli soldiers were killed.

An army spokesperson told AFP that the Palestinian man was killed.

Israel's military frequently accuse Palestinians who are shot by soldiers of attempting to carry out attacks using knives or other means.

Activists and human rights groups have questioned Israeli military accounts of some of these events, including the in Jerusalem with video evidence of his fatal shooting missing.

In other cases, Israeli forces have been accused of using  when the alleged assailants could have been arrested or were shot dead when no soldiers' lives were at risk.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians, human rights groups say.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in construction considered illegal under international law.

Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories through harming and killing civilians, demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and other forms of violence.

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The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C.

Area  A is under the administrative and security control of the PA. Area is under administrative control of the PA, with Israel controlling security. Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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