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Palestinian President Abbas warns of new intifada risk

Tensions have been running high in the West Bank and Jerusalem in the past week with a number of clashes erupting after groups of Jewish settlers forced their way into Muslim holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

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According to local Palestinian media, Israeli soldiers shot Hashlamoun after she refused to open her purse and lift her face veil, or niqab.

The Israeli military said the wounded woman’s condition was not immediately clear and she had been taken to an Israeli hospital.

“The soldiers heard an explosion and during a search of the sector they found the body of a Palestinian killed by the explosive device he meant to throw at one of our vehicles”, she said.

Police were set to deploy 2,000 policemen across the city, fearing escalating violence Wednesday, since this year’s Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha coincides with Yom Kippur, also known as the “day of atonement”, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

On Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced measures into cabinet that allow police to use live ammunition on stone-throwers inside Jerusalem, giving them the same authority as soldiers in the occupied West Bank.

Moreover, the Allon Plan provided an unmistakable signal that the Labor Government, which ruled Israel at the time, had every intention of retaining large parts of the West Bank and all of Gaza, with no intention of honoring United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, which challenged Israel’s military takeover of Palestinian territories.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Tuesday of a potential outbreak of a third Intifada following continued Israeli violations and attacks against the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in east Jerusalem.

There were also age restrictions on Muslims entering the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, with men under 40 prohibited.

Rabbinical authorities initially forbade religious Jews from visiting the Mount, precisely because of its sanctity.

The footage showed an Israeli soldier aiming a rifle at a Palestinian boy who is seen picking up a stone and throwing it in a direction away from the sniper.

Abbas met the French President Francois Hollande in the Elysee Palace on Tuesday, and said that “What is happening in Jerusalem is dangerous”. Some 12,000 Jews visit the site per year, compared to 3 to 4 million Muslims.

Hollande said, “We call for a truce and we call you to respect the principals”.

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Israel says Jerusalem is their undivided capital, although the worldwide community does not acknowledge nor recognize that claim.

An Israeli soldier aims his rifle at a woman said to be 19-year-old Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamun before she was shot and killed by Israeli troops