On Saturday, Netanyahu ordered the mobilization of three reserve border police companies to offer reinforcement amid the wave of attacks. The victim was seriously wounded and the attacker fled. He said four others were wounded, included Ms Hassan’s husband and son, in the strike in the southern Gaza strip. The central theme is that the “Al-Aqsa Mosque is in danger because of Israeli aggression”. The closure, done for security reasons, lasted a day.
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In Washington, the U.S. state department said it regards the stabbings and shootings of Israelis by Palestinians as “acts of terror”, though spokesman John Kirby would not be drawn on whether the attack by the Jewish teenager was also terrorism. The assailant was identified as Ishak Badran, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, police said.
Police, who saw the men bleeding from stab wounds in their upper bodies and the knife-wielding Palestinian running toward them, opened fire, killing the attacker. They come after a series of settler attacks this past summer, including the firebombing of a Palestinian home in Duma that killed most of the Dawabsheh family, including 18-month-old Ali. A number of Palestinians have been killed and wounded during those riots. He died at Al Ahli Hospital in Hebron, the health ministry said. The Red Crescent medical service says over 500 Palestinians have been wounded in violent protests in the West Bank, including about 100 from live fire.
Israel has adamantly denied the allegations and accused Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence and spreading lies over the shrines in east Jerusalem.
Blood has been flowing for days now.
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon told local Israeli media Friday that the Hamas movement is responsible for the violence and the death of six Palestinian men during clashes, accusing Hamas of allowing “rioters” to approach restricted areas. One of the Arab protesters was held for spitting on a police officer. The attack left four people lightly wounded, including the soldier.
The site is sacred to both Judaism and Islam and, as such, has become a focal point of discord.
Abbas said earlier this week that he doesn’t want the situation to escalate.
Five of those injured are in critical condition, the sources said.
The army statement did not explain why troops did not use non-lethal crowd control weapons, such as teargas and rubber bullets, routinely used by Israeli forces against violent protests in the West Bank.
The air was thick with black smoke from burning tires.
The Israeli military posted video of the confrontation, which was also posted on YouTube by a Palestinian. An Israeli soldier spotted a person with a shotgun and a knife, and a civilian security officer shot at the suspect’s lower extremities, injuring him. To the majority of Palestinians, there is no legitimate Israel and no legitimate Israelis. Corruption allegations against Palestinian officials have added to the anger. Israeli security forces are still looking for that attacker. The remainder retreated into Gaza.
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CNN’s Michael Schwartz and Amir Tal contributed from Jerusalem and Ben Wedeman from the West Bank. The first intifada (1987-1993) was preceded by a gradual increase in tensions, with a deadly crash in the Gaza Strip the final spark. Michael Martinez wrote and reported from Los Angeles.
