Four Palestinians were shot dead on Saturday when they tried to stab Israelis in separate attacks amid a rising tide of violence in the region.

In the first incident, 18-year-old Fadil Qawasmi was shot dead by an Israeli settler near Hebron. The army said Qawasmi tried to stab another member of the public.

Soon afterwards, Israeli border police stopped a 16-year-old Palestinian youth near Jabel Mukaber, which borders east Talpiot in east Jerusalem. Israeli police said the youth was stopped and questioned by border police as they believed he was walking “in a suspicious manner”. He subsequently drew a knife and tried to stab an officer, who shot him dead, authorities said. .



In the third incident, Israeli police said an officer was stabbed at the Ashmoret Yitzhak border police base near Hebron, and she shot dead a Palestinian girl. Palestinian media identified the girl as a 17-year-old Bayan Ayman Abd al-Hadi al-Esseili.

Later, a 24-year-old Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli border policeman at the Qalandia crossing in the West Bank, a police spokesman said. The attacker was initially shot and wounded in the leg. During a follow-up body search, the attacker drew a second knife and tried to stab another officer, after which he was shot dead, the spokesman said.

There have been allegations by rights groups that Israeli forces have been carrying out “extrajudicial executions” of Palestinians during attacks. B’Tselem said this week that Israeli officials had effectively condoned the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces and civilians.

Soldiers attend the scene of a shooting after an Israeli pedestrian killed a Palestinian man who tried to stab him in the West Bank on Saturday. Guardian

The group said on Thursday that its investigation of footage of the deaths of two Palestinians, Fadi Alloun and Basel Sidr, showed they were shot while no longer posing danger.

“No one disputes the serious nature of the events of recent days, nor the need to protect the public against stabbing and other attacks,” B’Tselem said. “However, it seems that too often, instead of acting in a manner consistent with the nature of each incident, police officers and soldiers are quick to shoot to kill. The political and public support for such actions endorses the killing of Palestinians in the territories and in Israel.”

In the past month, eight Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks – mostly stabbings – and 35 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, 17 labelled by Israel as attackers and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops.

On Friday a soldier was wounded in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian man wearing a fluorescent vest and a press sticker on his chest. The Foreign Press Association for Israel and the Palestinian territories and the Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attack and called on Palestinian media organisations to verify press credentials “to ensure there are no violations”.

Violent clashes erupted along the Gaza border fence and across the occupied West Bank on Friday, leaving three Palestinians dead. Another 27 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes, 11 by live bullets fired by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian medical sources. Several Palestinian protesters tried to break through into Israel near the Erez crossing.

The US has stepped up efforts to try to restore calm to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, spoke to both the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, by phone to discuss ways to end the violence. Kerry and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet in Germany next week.

The United Nations security council held an emergency meeting at the request of Jordan, where Israel rejected a call for an international presence in east Jerusalem to quell violence around the al-Aqsa mosque.

“Let me be crystal clear: Israel will not agree to any international presence on the Temple Mount. Such a presence would be a change in the status quo,” Israel’s deputy ambassador, David Roet, told the council.