Twenty-two Israelis, an American and an Eritrean have been killed in Palestinian attacks including stabbings, auto rammings and gunfire targeting security forces and civilians since October 1. Most had been held for weeks.
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Shortly afterward, IDF reservists shot and killed the three suspects, who according to initial investigations meant to ambush and stab the Israeli troops. Emily Harris, an global correspondent for NPR based in Jerusalem, joins Here & Now’s Robin Young with details.
At the same time, 143 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, most while carrying out attacks.
No soldiers were injured. “The forces thwarted the attack and shot the assailant resulting in his death”.
The company said only that one of the men held an Israeli passport while the other had a valid Israeli residence permit, without discussing their ethnicity.
Three of them were killed at the Gush Etzion junction and were later on identified as cousins Ahmad Salim Abd al-Majid Kawazba, Alaa Abed Muhammad Kawazba and Muhannad Ziyad Kawazba.
The number of terrorist attacks was lower in December than in previous months, a monthly report by the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency in Israel said on Thursday, according to Israel Radio. The surge in violence has been fueled by Palestinians’ frustration over Israel’s 48-year occupation of land they seek for an independent state, and the expansion of settlements in those territories which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
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The meeting will also tackle the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and the current violent tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Erekat said.
