The IDF ordered four battalions to join existing military forces in the West Bank in the wake of a terror attack in which an Israeli couple was shot and killed.
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The festivities included the launching of fireworks and the waving of flags in the streets, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Such shootings were common during the Second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, from 2000-2004, but in recent years they have been relatively rare.
He later told Israel Radio that the intensity of violence and amount of gunfire was “something we haven’t seen here for a long time“. They have no right to dirty it with their filthy feet.
The victims were identified as Eitam and Naama Henkin, both in their 30s.
Meanwhile, an Israeli analysts was reported as stating that the perpetrators of the shooting attack – [that claimed the lives of two Israeli couple] – did not harm the four children that were in the vehicle during the attack, which he said is an act that was meant to send a message to the Israelis that says, “we are not animals like you and we do not kill children as you did in Nablus” Duma arson attack [against the Dawabsheh family]’.
The compound is the third-holiest site in Islam and the most sacred in Judaism.
Israeli border policemen stand in front of the West Bank side of the check point between Jerusalem and Bethlehem during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators Friday, October 2, 2015.
Israeli security forces clash with protesters on Friday.
Another unidentified Palestinian was injured and treated at hospital after settlers smashed his vehicle in the area.
According to the local Channel 10 news, the Jewish couple were making their way with their baby to pray at the Western Wall, a Jewish prayer site adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount (or Noble Sanctuary) compound. Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, who visited the attack site yesterday, said the security forces had been deployed “to place our hands on the murderers”.
Mr Netanyahu blamed the killings on what he called “savage Palestinian incitement”. “We are witness to an especially heinous and shocking murder in which parents were murdered, leaving four young orphans”.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, issued a statement praising the attack which it described as “heroic”. It called for more attacks.
There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military.
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The premier said he was prepared to “immediately resume direct peace negotiations” without preconditions, although the Palestinians condition a resumption of dialogue on an end to settlement building and the release of prisoners.
