On Wednesday, two terrorists from Kafr Aqab in eastern Jerusalem carried out a combined vehicular and stabbing attack near the Damascus Gate, one of the main entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City.
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“It just brings home that it (terror) can happen, it can happen anywhere, at any time”, Biden said.
Attendees of the Tuesday night consultation included Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich and representatives of the Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet security service.
“The United States of America condemns these acts and condemns the failure to condemn these acts”, Biden said. The Palestinian leader Saeb Erekat is quoted calling the plan “racist”.
The 20-year old attackers fled in a auto and were later shot and killed, as police units identified the vehicle and moved in.
The video, which is posted on YouTube, has been sent for examination to the Israel Police Internal Investigations Department and the Justice Ministry, according to reports.
In the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva, a Palestinian reportedly had his own knife turned on him by a strictly Orthodox man whom he had just attacked, being stabbed and killed by his victim, who was subsequently treated in hospital.
US Vice President Joe Biden implicitly criticised the Palestinian leadership on Wednesday for a “failure to condemn” attacks against Israelis, after a string of stabbing and shooting attacks occurred as he arrived in Israel.
Palestinians say the violence stems from frustration at almost five decades of Israeli occupation.
Biden is in Israel for a two-day visit as part of a regional tour of the Mideast that includes meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Elsewhere, the Israeli military said a Palestinian man was shot and killed after he attempted to stab forces near a checkpoint outside of the West Bank city of Qalqilya.
Israel is also working closely with the Palestinian Authority’s security agencies and has demanded that the PA end the incitement that has been key to stoking the violence.
Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as their capital.
A statement from Abbas’ office following his meeting with Biden on Wednesday night said Abbas offered his condolences for the American’s death, but stressed that Israel has killed almost 200 Palestinians during the current round of violence.
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