The Israeli army claimed that a Palestinian woman armed with a knife approached a soldier ``conducting routine security activity'' north of the West Bank city of Hebron and that soldiers opened fire. It said that no soldiers were hurt in the incident.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the woman, identified as Ghafran Warasna, died after she was shot in the chest near the Al Aroub refugee camp outside Hebron.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that Warasna, 31, was released from Israeli prison in April after serving three months.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, sources told the Palestinian Red Crescent that the Israeli army blocked ambulances from reaching Warasna for 20 minutes. She died upon arrival at Hebron National Hospital.

Israeli crackdown on Palestinians has intensified in recent weeks with near-daily arrest raids by the army in Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank following a string of attacks by Palestinians that left at least 19 Israelis dead.

Tensions have soared following the killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked for Al Jazeera, and an Israeli ultranationalist march through a Palestinian thoroughfare in east Jerusalem.

Recent weeks have seen at least 35 Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces. Many of them were carrying out attacks or were involved in confrontations with Israeli troops in the West Bank. But Abu Akleh, an unarmed woman and two apparent bystanders were also among those killed. Rights groups say Israel often uses excessive force.