Israeli soldiers have shot dead two Palestinians who were attempting to stab them in an attack at a checkpoint.

The Israel Defence Forces said the soldiers had "thwarted the attack and shot the assailants".

The incident took place at the Bekaot checkpoint in the northern West Bank.

The two Palestinian men, aged 23 and 38, were believed to be from villages south of Jenin.

Palestinian Wafa news agency named the attackers as Ali Muhammad Aqqab Abu-Maryam and Said Judah Abu-al-Wafa.

The soldiers were not injured.