Ramallah, February 24 (RHC)-- Israeli military forces have shot dead a young Palestinian man in the occupied Old City of Jerusalem for an alleged stabbing attempt against police forces.  Tensions continue to rise over the so-called "Deal of the Century" unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump last month on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli media outlets claimed that Israeli forces recognized the Palestinian while he was running and wielding a knife near Lion’s Gate, known in Arabic as Bab al-Asbat.  Israeli troops purportedly yelled at the young Palestinian man, identified as 33-year-old Maher Ibrahim Zaatra, to stop, at which point he started running towards them.  The officers said they responded by shooting and killing him.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that the Palestinian man was shot several times and left on the ground bleeding before Israeli paramedics arrived at the scene.   Hours later, Israeli forces raided his home in the Jabal Mukabbir neighborhood of southern East Jerusalem al-Quds, and detained his mother and two of his brothers.