New violence rocked Israel and the Israeli occupied West Bank, including an incident in which men thought to be undercover Israeli police opened fire on Palestinian stone throwers they had infiltrated, wounding three of them. The attacker’s identity was not immediately known.
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Authorities also reported a knife attack on a 25-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jewish student by a 19-year-old Palestinian at a train station near the main police headquarters in Jerusalem on Thursday.
In the third incident, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank, the military said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said two Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces during the skirmishes.
It has increasingly become the site of brutal clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Four Israelis were killed in two attacks last week. Seven Palestinians were killed, at least three of whom had no role in the attacks – one was just 13. But he is also wary of angering the American administration and risking another full-fledged uprising with too tough a response that could lead to a higher number of casualties on both sides.
Many Palestinians believe Israel is trying to expand Jewish presence at the site, a claim Israel strongly denies.
Under an agreement with Islamic religious authorities, Jews can tour the complex but not pray at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City.
And in Jerusalem’s Old City, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man who then shot and wounded her.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday he would not allow his people to be “dragged” into more violence with Israel.
A sixth Israeli civilian was stabbed by a Palestinian woman in Jerusalem.
But on Tuesday he called for calm and said his people had no interest in further “escalation”.
Meanwhile, Palestinian protesters clashed once more with Israeli soldiers at several spots across the occupied West Bank.
But on Wednesday, new stabbings occurred outside a crowded mall in central Israel and in a southern Israeli town.
Netanyahu praised citizens’ actions in confronting the attacks, saying that “Israelis are acting to neutralize and eliminate the terrorists while in the act and this requires extraordinary bravery and initiative”.
In a bid to quell tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu banned ministers from visiting al-Aqsa, while asking Facebook and Youtube to remove videos it says are encouraging Palestinian attacks.
Israeli prime minister speaks after series of stabbings targeting Israelis and clashes in West Bank.
The suspect, who used a screwdriver, was shot dead by another soldier, said police, who identified him as Thaer Abu Ghazaleh, in his late teens.
Fresh clashes broke out at the Bet El checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah Thursday, as well as in Shuafat, where the as yet unnamed Palestinian was killed during the Israeli operation.
After a right-wing outcry, Mr Netanyahu’s office clarified that the ban on politicians’ visits to al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City would also include Arab parliamentarians.
“The mayor encourages licensed gun owners to carry their weapons to increase security”, the statement read.
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Israel has compulsory military service, which means most of the population is trained in handling weapons, according to the worldwide Business Times.
