JERUSALEM: Israel's military says a Palestinian was shot and killed after she pulled out a knife and attacked a soldier on guard near a sensitive West Bank holy site.

It said Saturday's incident occurred in Hebron, a flashpoint of five months of violence that have seen near-daily Palestinian attacks, mainly stabbings.

About 850 Israeli settlers live in heavily-guarded enclaves in Hebron, surrounded by tens of thousands of Palestinians. Much of the animosity in the biblical city is over a holy site known to Jews as the Tomb of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Twenty-seven Israelis have been killed in the latest wave of violence. At least 157 Palestinians, the majority of whom Israel says were attackers, have been killed by Israeli fire.