The screwdriver-wielding assailant, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem, stabbed and wounded four Israelis, including a female soldier, near a busy Tel Aviv road, before being shot dead, the police said. Six Palestinians were killed and a dozen were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The other victims include a 60-year-old woman, a man and a woman in their 40s and a 20-year-old woman, who were all lightly wounded.
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In a bid to calm tensions, Netanyahu has barred members of parliament and ministers from visiting the Old City’s Al-Aqsa mosques compound, which has seen repeated clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian youths in recent weeks.
At least four attacks – three by Palestinians and one by an Israeli – threatened to escalate and spread throughout the country as Israeli police struggled to control spiraling violence.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi has denounced the Israeli regime for its “racist and aggressive” practices towards the Palestinians, calling on the United Nations to take necessary measures to bring to a halt Tel Aviv’s acts of violence. Netanyahu has beefed up military presence in Jerusalem and the West Bank, while Jerusalem’s mayor has urged those with gun licenses to carry their weapons.
It marked the first such attack against Palestinians after at least 11 stabbings that have targeted Israelis or Jews since Saturday, killing two of them.
What began as Palestinians throwing rocks and firebombs at passing cars and police morphed into a deadly shooting and a rash of knife attacks where Palestinians stabbed Israeli civilians and soldiers in the streets.
Arab Israelis are the descendants of Palestinians who remained after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and hold Israeli citizenship. It follows a week of violence which has already seen four Israelis killed.
Israel’s Prime Minister has condemned an Israeli stabbing attack that injured 4 Arabs.
The age limit has been set intermittently in an attempt to ensure peace at the site, as it’s mostly younger Palestinians involved in the violence.
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Right Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein voiced concern over the escalation of the tensions in the occupied territories, slamming Israeli forces for using live ammunition against Palestinians.
Many Palestinians believe Israel is trying to expand the Jewish presence at the site, a claim Israel adamantly denies.
A series of similar attacks in recent days has shocked Israelis and raised fears of a new uprising or “intifada”.
The hilltop compound is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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On October 4 and 5, two Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy from Aida Refugee camp, were reportedly killed during clashes with Israeli security forces. Palestinians threw rocks and rolled burning tires at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and soldiers opened fire of protestors on the border of the Gaza Strip. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism. Under a longstanding arrangement administered by Islamic authorities, Jews are allowed to visit the site during certain hours but may not pray there.
