Palestinian woman attacks Israeli on West Bank, according to military

A Palestinian woman stabbed and slightly wounded an Israeli civilian before being shot and wounded by Israeli security forces in the West Bank on Monday, the military said.

The Israeli military said the attacker was taken for medical treatment, and Israeli media reports said she was seriously wounded. The Israeli was treated at the scene.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have soared in recent months, mostly because of Palestinian fears that Israel is trying to change the status quo at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem by allowing Jews to pray there.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the claims, but some ministers in his right-wing government want to permit Jewish prayers at the hilltop compound.

Jews refer to the site -- their holiest -- as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the ancient Hebrew temples. Muslims refer to it as the Noble Sanctuary, and it is their third holiest site, after Mecca and Medina.

Over the last six weeks 11 Israelis have been killed in five separate Palestinian attacks — mostly in Jerusalem, but also in the West Bank and Tel Aviv. Five of the Palestinian assailants were killed by Israeli security forces.

Netanyahu has accused Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas of inciting Palestinians to violence, but the head of Israel's internal security service refuted that contention in testimony before a parliamentary committee last month, saying that Abbas did not bear direct responsibility.