Police described the attacker as a 22-year-old Palestinian from east Jerusalem and said he was taken to hospital with serious injuries after being beaten by residents.
Advertisement
The Palestinian death toll from the weekend’s violence now stands at 10, as the days of violence continued with stabbings, shootings and an explosion.
In the haredi Orthodox Geula neighborhood, an assailant drove a vehicle into a bus stop, killing one and seriously injuring another, and then exited the auto and began stabbing pedestrians. Two of the attackers, both teenage boys, were killed. He was the 25th Palestinian to be killed, the Palestinian health ministry said, during the current round of violence.
An hour after that attack, another Palestinian wounded several people in a knife attack in the same town.
Clashes broke out at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site over the Jewish New Year, fueled by rumors that Israel was secretly plotting to take over the spot.
Israel’s Defense Forces are trying to contain the riots close to the Gaza border without the use of live fire.
In addition to his tough rhetoric, the Israeli leader has already beefed up the level of forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and loosened the rules on when troops can open fire at protesters. The attacker, identified as a 16-year-old girl, was shot and wounded, while a police officer was lightly hurt.
At least three Israelis have been killed and more than 20 wounded in a rash of terror attacks throughout the country.
In total, seven Palestinians died Saturday: four in Jerusalem and the West Bank, including the knife-wielding attackers, and three more in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
While Abbas has spoken out against violence, he is deeply unpopular at home due to the failure of peace talks and lack of hope for ending almost 50 years of Israeli occupation.
The main Palestinian factions, including the Western-backed Fatah movement and the militant Hamas group, declared a “Day of Rage” on Tuesday across the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, accusing Israel of “escalating its crimes against our people” and carrying out “summary executions”.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says two attackers stabbed and shot people on a bus and were captured at the scene.
The violence began on October 1, when an alleged Hamas cell shot dead a Jewish settler couple in the West Bank in front of their children.
The rising tide of unrest, which has seen a series of stabbing attacks and violent protests, has raised fears that a full-scale third Palestinian uprising, or intifada, could erupt. Police said the pair seriously wounded a 20-year-old man before attacking a teenage boy on a bicycle. Nearly simultaneously, there was another stabbing attack in another part of the city. The driver also go out a stabbed at least eight people, emergency medical services said.
“We don’t know what to do, or where to walk”, Avi Shemesh, a witness to the attack, told reporters.
In the West Bank, central Hebron burned with thick smoke from flaming tires as young Palestinian men clashed with Israeli police and soldiers.
Advertisement
Tuesday’s stabbing is the latest incident in a monthlong wave of attacks.
