Three of the stabbings have struck in the heart of Israel and sparked deep concern in the Jewish state, including Thursday’s attack in Tel Aviv. Although Ghassan Abu Jaber was immediately killed, Israel often carries out such demolitions of the homes of militants’ families, believing it will deter future attacks.
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Earlier, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli in Jerusalem’s Old City, according to police, who added that the man fired back with his pistol, seriously wounding the assailant.
In a separate incident, the Maan news agency reported that two Palestinians had been shot and injured near the village of Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem, after an attack on an Israeli settler. Including Thursday’s incidents, six Palestinians have been killed in the unrest.
“The radicals, the terrorists will not achieve anything”, he said. It’s revered by Muslims as the spot where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the two Jewish biblical Temples. He said Jewish parliamentarians “infiltrated and caused provocations, and because of them there is an escalation; not because of Arab parliamentarians and worshippers who are entering the Mosque of Al-Aqsa”.
A steady rise in street violence has been fueled by confrontations around Jerusalem’s al Aqsa mosque complex.
With violence mounting, Israel also turned its attention to the social media front, asking Facebook and YouTube to remove videos it says have been encouraging Palestinian attacks.
Israeli police say forces opened fire on a Palestinian motorist after he attempted to drive through a checkpoint in the West Bank and tried to hit an officer.
They waved Palestinian flags and chanted, “With spirit, with blood, we will redeem al-Aqsa mosque”.
New violence rocked Israel and the West Bank yesterday, including a stabbing in annexed east Jerusalem, even as Israel and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas took steps to ease tensions.
The soldier who was stabbed Wednesday was lightly wounded, Israeli authorities said, and police killed the attacker.
Further evidence obtained by Amnesty global indicated that the killing of al-Hashlamoun by Israeli forces in Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, on 22 September 2015, was an “extrajudicial execution”.
Israel has beefed up security in response to the violence in Jerusalem, and on Thursday police set up metal detectors at the entrance to Israel’s Old City as a measure to prevent attacks.
The attack in the Old City, filled with ancient sites holy to Muslims, Christians and Jews, took place close to where a Palestinian assailant killed an off-duty soldier and a well-known rabbi on Saturday night.
In the same area, a group of Palestinians had sought to seize a Jewish woman from her vehicle and possibly kidnap her, Israeli military spokesman Arye Shalicar said.
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Israeli and Palestinian officials reportedly met for security talks in the West Bank on Tuesday evening, and there have been worldwide calls for calm. More than 1,000 Palestinians and fewer than a dozen Israelis have been injured since last Thursday. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and stun grenades.
