A Palestinian driver attempted to ram his car into Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank today and was shot dead, the Israeli military said.

The attack occurred on the outskirts of Hebron, a large Palestinian city in the south of the West Bank.

A campaign of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings by Palestinians has killed 19 Israelis and a U.S. citizen since the start of October. Israeli forces have killed 107 Palestinians, around two-thirds of whom the army identified as assailants.

The violence has been fuelled by a number of factors, including frustration at the failure of long-running peace efforts, Israel's 48-year occupation, and tensions over a shrine in Jerusalem that is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The United States, the European Union and the United Nations have expressed concern about the rising death toll, urging both sides to apply restraint, while also recognising Israel's right to self-defence in the face of the street attacks.