JERUSALEM, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian man was shot dead after slightly injuring eight Israelis by stabbing and spraying pepper gas in central Israel on Thursday night, Israeli police said.

The police said in a statement that the incident -- which took place at a major crossroad outside the city of Modi'in, just next to the seamline zone between Israel and the occupied West Bank -- was "a terror attack."

Eyewitnesses told the state-owned Kan TV news that the suspect approached cars at the junction and attempted to open their doors and stab the people inside.

Two people were stabbed and six were sprayed by the suspect, all in minor injuries, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement.

An off-duty police officer who was at the scene shot at the suspect and killed him, the police said.

The police identified the suspect as a resident of the West Bank Ramallah city.

It was the latest incident in rising violence incidents between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank.

Also on Thursday, the police said it was boosting its forces in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the military had sent an additional battalion to the area ahead of the Jewish holidays, a time which often triggers more tensions.