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Palestinians kill Israeli officer before being shot dead

The town of some 15,000 people in the north of the occupied West Bank has seen around 10 residents killed in the wave of violence that began in October.

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The attack happened after Israeli security forces stopped the Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.

Two female officers were shot and injured, one seriously and one critically.

A court in Jerusalem sentenced the older of the two, aged 17, to life in prison, while the second, aged 16, was sentenced to 21 years for the murder that saw 16-year-old Mohammed grabbed outside a mosque, beaten and then burned to death in a forest outside the city.

Troops on Wednesday evening were carrying out security checks on Palestinians entering and leaving the village, the army said.

Witnesses said one of the attackers had opened fire on four Israeli soldiers, while two others attacked the soldiers with knives.

The three terrorists arrived at the scene armed with Carl Gustav rifles, knives and explosive devices. According to Palestinian sources, the terrorists came from the Jenin area. A police spokesman sent reporters a photo of a group of officers standing near a pool of blood near the gate.

Israeli forces also raided the family homes of the three youth who committed the attack and notified them that their homes would be demolished, requesting they evacuate their belongings in preparation for the demolition.

“More than 100 Israeli settlers have forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex over the last two days under heavy police protection”, Sheikh Omar al-Qiswani, the Palestinian director of the Al-Aqsa complex, told Anadolu Agency.

Palestinians say assailants are lashing out in despair over the Israeli occupation, while Israeli officials blame incitement that’s found widespread exposure on social media.

The Interior Ministry said its decision was also based on the father violating an agreement to not communicate with family members of his whom Israel says are militants.

On Thursday, the Israeli military sealed of the home village of the three Palestinian men who staged a deadly attack in Jerusalem and conducted raids in the settlement.

“If there is no apartheid or racism (in Israel), you will have to do this”, Hussein Abu Khudair said, saying authorities had been easy on the teenager because he is a Jew, not an Arab.

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Both incidents were part of a cycle of violence that led to the 2014 summer war between Israel and Gaza. Hamas has since boasted that it is rebuilding the network, and Israelis living near Gaza have reported hearing tunneling sounds under their homes recently.

Gaza's Hamas rulers says 2 fighters dead in tunnel collapse