The 26-year-old woman stabbed to death near a West Bank settlement on Monday has been described by her neighbour as the "epitome of kindness".

Dalia Lamkus, a children's occupational therapist, was attacked at a bus stop near Alon Shvut, in Gush Etzion. Two others were injured in the attack.

"She was modest, with a wide and pure heart, and no matter when - evenings, or holidays - always took on the task of helping people in the best possible way," said Itiel Gispan, the manager of the Tekoa branch of Yad Sarah, a charity for the disabled and elderly where Ms Lamkus volunteered when she wasn't working.

"She greeted anyone who came to us with a great smile, a lot of love, to let them know that she was there for them," he added.

Sherri Mandell, a neighbour of Ms Lamkus, said: "She was the epitome of kindness and doing good, the opposite of our enemy."

Ms Mandell's son, Koby, was murdered by terrorists in 2001, and she went on to set up the Koby Mandell Foundation, which aids bereaved families. In a blog about Ms Lamkus, Ms Mandell wrote that she was a "kind, giving, loving young woman on the cusp of her adult life, looking towards marriage and creating her own family".

Ms Lamkus survived a previous stabbing attack in 2006, at a nearby location.

In the attack on Monday, the assailant, a member of Islamic Jihad who spent five years in prison, tried to drive his van into the crowd at the bus stop, but crashed into a barrier.

He then jumped out of his car and attacked three people with a knife before being shot by Israeli security forces.

The attack took place at the same spot where the three yeshivah students - whose killing sparked the summer conflict with Hamas - were abducted in June.

Hours earlier on Monday, another knife-wielding Palestinian killed a 20-year-old soldier, Sgt Almog Shiloni, outside a busy Tel Aviv train station.