Sudanese Killed after Stabbing Israeli Soldier in Ashkelon

A Sudanese man stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier Sunday before being shot dead in southern Israel, with police investigating whether the attack was carried out in solidarity with Palestinians.

Police initially said the incident near a bus station in the southern city of Ashkelon was suspected to be part of a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming attacks that erupted in October. 

Later police said they suspected that the Sudanese national acted in solidarity with the Palestinians, but had not ruled out other potential motives. 

The incident saw 32-year-old Kamal Hassan stab the soldier and flee, according to police. Another soldier in the area grabbed the lightly wounded soldier's gun and chased Hassan 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.