A Palestinian has been shot dead after allegedly attempting to stab Israeli soldiers north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army reported the incident on Friday, but added that none of its soldiers were wounded.

The Israeli army published a picture of the man's identity card. It showed that the alleged attacker was 24- year-old Abdullah Taqatqa from Bethlehem.

Palestinian witnesses told local media that "Israeli forces shot at him while he was around 20 metres away from them" and that Taqatqa "didn't have any type of knife with him or any kind of weapon".

The incident occurred at the Gush Etzion junction near a large bloc of Israeli settlements south of Bethlehem.

It comes amid soaring tensions between Israeli authorities and Palestinians over discriminatory restrictions in place at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

A few hours before the Friday prayers, Israeli police announced for the second week running that men under the age on 50 will not be permitted to attend the holy site, and closed several gates to the compound.

A few skirmishes broke out in different West Bank towns and cities after prayers were over.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that they have received 52 cases of injuries across the West Bank and Jerusalem, in protests against the restrictions on Friday.