Since the beginning of this month, the region has been wracked by violence, resulting in both Palestinian and Israel deaths.
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The now-daily stabbings have raised speculation that Palestinians could be embarking on another uprising or intifada, reflecting a new generation’s frustrations over their veteran leadership’s failure to achieve statehood.
A 60-year-old man and another passenger were killed and at least 10 people were taken to the hospital for treatment as a pair of attackers lashed out with a gun and a knife. One of the attackers was killed and the other wounded.
In another part of Jerusalem, a man crashed a auto into people at a bus stop, then got out of the vehicle and started stabbing pedestrians. One of the assailants was killed, an ambulance service spokesman said, and the other captured.
Amid the continuing attacks, about 1,600 reserve border police officers have been mobilized in Jerusalem and throughout Israel, the Prime Minister’s office said over the weekend.
The Jerusalem attacks, coupled with a pair of stabbing attacks in the central Israeli city of Raanana that wounded five, including one seriously, came in rapid succession.
Within an hour of that attack, another knife-wielding Palestinian struck in Raanana, wounding four people, police and media reports said.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, speaking to Newsweek by phone from Jerusalem, said Palestinians were responsible for both incidents. The Israeli was moderately wounded and the attacker was apprehended and beaten by local residents before he was taken to a hospital. At least 26 Palestinians been killed by Israeli fire, including 10 identified by Israel as attackers and the rest in clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli troops. Hundreds of Palestinians have been wounded in such confrontations.
“Tuesday’s violence included a stabbing and a shooting on a bus in the Armon Anatziv area of Jerusalem, police said”.
Israel has poured police reinforcements into Jerusalem, where numerous stabbings have occurred.
Violence was also reported between Palestinians and Israeli forces at the Erez border crossing into Gaza.
Palestinian medics say five people have been wounded by Israeli gunfire, two of them seriously. Israel raids Gaza the next day in response to a rocket attack, and kills a pregnant Palestinian and her young daughter.
“The Hamas movement blesses the heroic operations in Jerusalem and hails the heroes who executed them”, the Hamas Movement’s Twitter account said. Peace talks broke down more than a year ago, and prospects for relaunching diplomatic efforts to end the conflict appear slim. Many regard President Abbas as weak and are ignoring his appeals for calm.
The attackers, many of them teenagers, have had no affiliation with militant groups, and the seemingly random nature of the stabbings has made it hard to predict or prevent them. An Israeli woman was later wounded in a second stabbing attack in the same town. Netanyahu said Zoabi must face a criminal investigation for advocating mass terrorism against Israelis.
In contrast to their brethren within the occupied West Bank, Palestinians in East Jerusalem can travel in Israel with out restrictions.
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In a fiery speech to parliament on Monday, Netanyahu accused the country’s Arab leaders of helping incite weeks of violence.
