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Sudanese man shot after stabbing Israeli soldier has died: police

By AFP
Sudan An Israeli soldier takes aim during clashes with Palestinian youths in the village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank town of Jenin.  By Jaafar Ashtiyeh AFPFile
FEB 7, 2016 LISTEN
An Israeli soldier takes aim during clashes with Palestinian youths in the village of Qabatiya, near the West Bank town of Jenin. By Jaafar Ashtiyeh (AFP/File)

Jerusalem (AFP) - A man who stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli soldier on Sunday in the southern city of Ashkelon before being shot was a Sudanese national who has since died of his wounds, police said.

Police initially said the incident near a bus station was suspected to be part of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October. The motive for the stabbing is now unclear.

The incident saw the Sudanese man, said to be in his 20s, stab the soldier and flee, according to police. Another soldier in the area grabbed the wounded soldier's gun and chased the Sudanese man before shooting him.

A witness told Israeli public radio the soldier shot three times at the Sudanese man, but he continued to run. He then fired three more times, according to the witness.

A wave of violence that erupted in October has claimed the lives of 165 Palestinians, 26 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

Most of the Palestinians were killed carrying out attacks, while others died during clashes and demonstrations.

Foreign nationals have not previously participated in such attacks.

A large number of illegal immigrants have arrived in Israel from Sudan through Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, though the status of the person killed Sunday was not clear.

Official figures show 45,000 illegal immigrants are in Israel, almost all from Eritrea and Sudan. About two-thirds are Eritrean.

In October, an Eritrean migrant worker who was mistaken for an Arab attacker died after he was shot and brutally beaten at a bus station in the southern city of Beersheba.

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