Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has barred all Cabinet ministers and lawmakers from visiting a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, fearing any high-profile spectacle could further enflame tensions that have gripped the country for weeks, an Israeli official said Thursday. Three suspected Palestinian assailants have been killed by police. He said the decision was “unfathomable” and that he would take the issue up directly with Netanyahu. “With persistence, systematically and with determination, we will prove that terror doesn’t pay”.
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In the attack outside the mall, which occurred in the city of Petah Tikva, police said civilians apprehended the suspected Palestinian assailant after he stabbed and slightly wounded a man. Earlier Wednesday, police said a 19-year-old Palestinian stabbed a soldier while taking his weapon in the southern town of Kiryat Gat.
Halabi stabbed two Israelis to death and wounded a mother and toddler in a bloody rampage in Jerusalem’s Old City before he was killed by police on Saturday.
JERUSALEM-Widespread riots continued Wednesday in the West Bank and East Jerusalem despite calls from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to his security forces to calm the situation.
The violence has shown no signs of abating, with three stabbing attacks reported Thursday.
Palestinians push burning tires, during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank, Friday, October 9, 2015.
The unrest began about three weeks ago at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby referred to the Palestinian attacks on Israelis as “acts of terror”.
Both Israeli and Palestinian leaders have sought to calm a rise in street violence that has been exacerbated by confrontations around Jerusalem’s al Aqsa mosque complex, Islam’s third holiest shrine which Jews also revere as the vestige of their two ancient temples.
Many Palestinians believe that Israel is trying to expand a Jewish presence at the site, a claim Israel adamantly denies.
Non-Muslim visitors are only allowed to enter the site at specific hours and are banned by police from praying there. The Red Crescent medical service says over 500 Palestinians have been wounded in violent protests in the West Bank since the weekend, including about 100 from live fire.
Not much can be done from an intelligence agency point of view to prevent spontaneous attacks by an individual who “decides to take a screwdriver and stab the first Jew that passes by”, said Yuval Diskin, Israel’s former internal security chief, in an interview with Channel 2 TV.
The border has been mostly quiet since last year’s war between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza.
With the attacks spilling into the Israeli heartland, Netanyahu has warned Israelis to be on guard.
Samri said an unprecedented measure barring nonresident Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City was lifted “following security assessments” on Tuesday evening.
Spokeswoman Luba Samri said the attacker stabbed a 14-year-old Israeli in central Jerusalem before running away.
Jerusalem has seen several stabbing and shooting attacks in the past week.
Tensions have been high in the wake of a series of attacks by all sides on Israelis, Palestinians and Bedouins. He castigated those who used Molotov cocktails, knives and rocks as well as live ammunition against Israeli citizens and security forces. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
He blamed recent bloodshed on the Palestinian Authority, which has authority in parts of the West Bank, and Hamas, which has authority in Gaza, for what he called their “incitement and libels and lies”. On Thursday, he encouraged other licensed gun owners to also carry their weapons.
“One of the advantages Israel has is that there are many veterans of military units with operational combat experience”, he said.
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“Possessing weapons increases the confidence of residents, who know that in addition to police there are many people who are not afraid to intervene”.
