The stabbings – at least nine since Saturday – have deeply unnerved Israelis, and authorities have struggled to prevent them, with the suspects often young Palestinians believed to be acting on their own.
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The statement by PA government spokesman Ihab Bseiso did not say that the two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli security services following attacks on Jewish Israelis.
The latest violence comes against the backdrop of frequent clashes that have occurred this week between Israeli security forces and Palestinian youths, in which hundreds of the latter have been injured.
The unrest has sparked fears that a third Palestinian uprising, or intifada, could erupt.
Also Thursday, a Palestinian stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student, 25, in Jerusalem, wounding him seriously, police said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a scheduled trip on Thursday to Germany, advising citizens to be on “maximum alert” as the Israeli police beefed up security around the country.
The violence later spread to Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem and to the West Bank, and on Tuesday there were disturbances in Jaffa, a largely Arab area of Tel Aviv. The attack left four people lightly wounded, including the soldier. Many fear that Israel will change rules governing the site.
Security officials called on Israelis who are licensed gun holders to take their weapons with them during the current turmoil.
JERUSALEM (AP) – A Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man who then shot and wounded her in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday after a few of the tight security measures imposed following a series of deadly Palestinian attacks were lifted, police said.
Four Israelis and four Palestinians have been killed over the past week, and dozens more have been wounded on both sides in incidents and clashes in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Tensions have worsened with increased restrictions Israel has placed on visits to the Temple Mount, a holy place for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Riyad Mansour said after Thursday’s meeting with United Nations political chief Jeffrey Feltman that the Palestinians are facing “massive military force with their bare chest and with stones”.
A small group of ultranationalist lawmakers and at least one minister have visited the plaza around al-Aqsa in recent months, heightening tensions there.
The site, revered by Muslims and Jews, has been the scene of recent protest after Palestinians responded by barricading themselves inside the mosque and hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at Israeli police.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said two Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces during the skirmishes. Against a fast-paced “Mi-Shema’amin” – performed in its heyday by Israeli singer Eyal Golan – are images that show the Palestinians’ ever more intense fight against the “usurpers” who have “black days” in store for them.
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The man then fled into a residential building, where he reportedly forced his way into one woman’s flat, grabbed a kitchen knife and attempted to stab her after realising that the rifle did not have a magazine.
