Moments before the incident, Israeli forces detained two Palestinian children following another alleged attack that took place on Jerusalem’s light rail.
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A leaked video purportedly showing Israeli investigators interrogating a Palestinian teen who went on trial Tuesday for the attempted murder of two Israelis was making waves.
Israeli police say Palestinian assailants have staged two new stabbing attacks on Israelis in Jerusalem. The guard shot one assailant and passengers subdued the second one.
In addition, Palestinians are frustrated as U.S.-backed peace efforts have stalled and Israel’s 48-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem shows no sign of ending.
The unrest has largely consisted of apparent lone-wolf attacks by young Palestinians on Israelis but Israel has accused Hamas of encouraging the violence from its bases in the Gaza Strip and in exile in Qatar.
Palestinians are angry at increasing violence by Israeli settlers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and their attacks on Palestinian properties, saying that the Tel Aviv regime seeks to change the status quo of the compound.
One of the boys, aged 12, was reportedly shot and severely injured while a 13-year-old was arrested by Israeli forces who arrived at the scene. Israel has eased a few restrictions in recent days, and it was unclear how the latest attacks would affect security measures in the capital.
The case became a lightning rod for both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian divide after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas erroneously claimed in a televised speech that Israelis had “summarily executed” Ahmed. Police fatally shot Hassan and a passing vehicle ran over Ahmed. The 13-year-old at the time was recovering at an Israeli hospital.
For their part, Palestinians were enraged by video that surfaced on social media showing Ahmed lying in the street, his head bloodied as bystanders curse him and shout “Die!” in Hebrew.
Footage released by Israeli authorities in the wake of the attack purported to show the cousins – knives in hand – following the Israeli victims.
A video that emerged on a Palestinian website showed plainclothes Israeli forces wrestling a young boy, who is thought to be one of the teens, to the ground. “You can not terrify or threaten or tempt for the goal of achieving a confession”, she said.
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Reacting to the video, police spokesperson Samri said the questioning was carried out “in a professional manner”.
