Israeli soldiers and a settler shot dead two Palestinians who tried to stab Jews in separate incidents in annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank today, the Israeli army and police has said.
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She said the officers shot and killed the teenager after he tried to stab them.
Medical sources identified the 18-year-old victim as Fadel al-Qawasmi, according to the worldwide Middle East Media center (IMEMC).
Several Molotov cocktails were thrown near Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs, and an explosive device was hurled at an IDF patrol nearby Saturday night, as violence continued to rock the area after a day which saw three stabbing attacks in the flashpoint city.
Israeli border police killed a 16-year-old Palestinian in a neighbourhood around East Jerusalem as they stopped him for questioning. Police said when an officer approached to treat the attacker, he pulled out a second knife and attempted to attack him.
Israeli soldiers stand around the body of a Palestinian, seen on the ground, who was shot and killed after stabbing an Israeli soldier during clashes in Hebron, West Bank Friday, October 16, 2015.
“The laws regarding bearing arms have been relaxed here in Israel during this latest wave of violence”, said FRANCE 24 correspondent Chris Moore from Jerusalem.
A site known as Joseph’s tomb in Nablus was set on fire Friday by a mob of over 100 rioting Palestinians.
No resolution is planned for Friday, but there might be an attempt to get the council to issue a statement aimed at urging the two sides to curb the violence.
Palestinians said they felt the roadblocks were intended as collective punishment and would be ineffective in deterring attackers. Seven Israelis have died in random attacks in the street or on buses.
Right-wing Israeli minister Uri Ariel said the attack “on one of the holiest sites to the Jewish nation” could not be forgiven and called for Israel to retake control of the area, which is under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.
Obama’s statement comes amid mounting clashes in Israel and the Palestinian territories that have raised fears of a full-scale uprising. But the Israeli civilian was armed, and shot the assailant dead, the IDF press office told CNN.
The United States had tried but failed to broker peace talks between the feuding groups.
The director general of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dore Gold, said: “The burning of Joseph’s tomb forcefully demonstrates what would happen in the holy places in Jerusalem if they were in the hands of the Palestinian leadership”.
Al Jazeera reports that the continued violence follows an Israeli rejection of a Palestinian proposal to let an worldwide force police the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The attackers have struck in Jerusalem and central and northern Israel, and in the occupied West Bank. Last month, the Israeli military suspended an officer involved in the assault of two Agence France-Presse journalists covering clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers near Nablus, the outlet reported.
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But subsequent attacks are believed to have been “lone wolf” operations.
