Israel: Pregnant woman Michal Froman stabbed in West Bank settlement in latest attack on women

A pregnant woman was stabbed near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank a day after a mother-of-six was killed in another attack by Palestinian assailants, as a four month-long wave of violence shows no signs of abating.

Michal Froman, 30, suffered moderate injuries to the upper body as she was attacked by a knife-wielding teenager in a clothing warehouse in an industrial area of Tekoa. She was taken to a local hospital, where she and her foetus were both reported to be in stable condition.

The attacker, aged 15, was shot and critically wounded by the settlement's head of security. The victim, who is 18-weeks pregnant, is the daughter-in-law of a late local rabbi, Menachem Froman. Menachem Froman was famed in Israel for his close ties to both the PLO and Hamas and his efforts to liaise between them and the Israeli government on peace terms.

The stabbing incident came ahead of the funeral for 38-year-old Dafna Meir, an Israeli woman who was killed inside her home in the West Bank settlement of Otniel on 17 January.

Three of Meir's six children where at home when the intruder stabbed her to death after a struggle. Hundreds of people attended a burial ceremony at the Givat Shaul cemetery on 18 January.

"I didn't just lose a mother, but also my best friend," Meir's eldest daughter Renana said at the funeral, Ynet reported. The 17-year-old reportedly witnessed the attack and has described the perpetrator to security forces that have launched a manhunt for the man who fled the scene after the stabbing.

The two women were the latest in a long series of people who have fallen victim of violence in the region since tensions between Israelis and Palestinians erupted in September. The Israeli Defence Forces tweeted:

Some 25 Israelis and an American student have been killed by Palestinian attackers since, while at least 146 Palestinians, allegedly including more than 100 attackers, have lost their lives to Israeli fire.