Tel Aviv - A knife-wielding Palestinian infiltrated a Jewish settlement on the southern West Bank Friday morning and was shot dead by a Jewish settler, the Israeli military said.

A spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said the Palestinian had infiltrated the settlement of Beit Hagai, south of Hebron, with the aim of carrying out an attack.

She said the Jewish settler who had shot him was lightly injured by the knife.

The Israeli military and police were combing the area, to ensure that he was acting alone and ensure there were no explosives planted, she added.

The head of the regional settlers' council, Zviki Bar Hai, charged that Palestinians, some of them acting alone, were stepping up attempts to carry out attacks against West Bank settlements to test the new Israeli government of hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He demanded harsh action by the new government. (dpa)