Police say assailant was man in his 40s from flashpoint city of Hebron who was being checked by officer

A Palestinian man stabbed a police officer with a kitchen knife and was shot dead in the Israeli port city of Ashkelon.

Police said an officer was checking a person who had aroused his suspicion on Tuesday when “the attacker pulled out a knife and attacked the officer”. The officer “responded quickly, fired and neutralised the suspect”.

Latest in series of attacks by Palestinians heightens sense of reduced personal security in Israel

As Israelis reel from a Palestinian shooting at a Tel Aviv pub that killed three people, the government has threatened to strike back amid concerns of a broader escalation.

Security forces shot dead the lone attacker in the early hours of Friday after a manhunt by army troops, police and intelligence personnel. Residents of the city – Israel’s commercial and entertainment capital – stayed off the streets in the aftermath of the attack, which has heightened a sense of reduced personal security across the country after three other attacks in the last two weeks.

Israeli police say the men were armed and were ‘killed in a shootout’ after tensions rise in the past week

Israeli security forces have killed three Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. The Israeli police said the men were armed and were “killed in a shootout,” in the pre-dawn incident on Saturday.