The attacks have shocked Israelis and sparked fears of a new Palestinian uprising like those of the 1980s and 2000s.
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In Jerusalem, a Palestinian wielding a vegetable peeler stabbed and wounded a 14-year-old Israeli on Friday before being arrested. He said the suspect told police he carried out the attacks because “all Arabs are terrorists”.
In retaliation, the Israeli army killed six Palestinians, saying three of them were shot for stabbing Israelis.
In a sermon for weekly Muslim prayers at a mosque in Gaza City, Ismail Haniyeh said “we are calling for the strengthening and increasing of the intifada”.
“Netanyahu is not the king, not the law, and I don’t give a hoot about his decision”, said Arab lawmaker Jamal Zahalk, the New York Times reported. He and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas have tried to lower tensions in recent days but both appear unable to contain the unrest.
Arab citizens of Israel were enraged Friday over the shooting of a Muslim woman in Afula.
Household items are used as weapons because guns can be harder to get for Palestinians unaffiliated with militant groups.
The first man stabbed was a municipal worker who was moderately wounded by the assailant. The objective: maximum Jews and minimum Arabs, remaining ones confined to isolated ghettoized bantustans on worthless scrubland. Police said the woman, who wore a long robe and Islamic headscarf, had pulled a knife to stab a soldier and posed an “immediate threat”.
Jerusalem’s mayor, caught on video this week with a gun slung over his shoulder while visiting a Palestinian neighborhood, is making no apologies for the display of force.
“They don’t have the concept of danger or the sense of caution that an adult has”, he said, adding that children and adolescents are more likely to be influenced by images on social media. She was shot and her condition was unclear.
Friday’s attack comes after a week of renewed violence that saw eight Israelis wounded on Thursday in stabbing attacks around the country. Muslim access to al-Aqsa has been restricted to men over 45 and women.
Many Palestinians believe Israel is trying to expand Jewish presence at the site, a claim Israel adamantly denies.
Jews and non-Muslims can visit Al-Aqsa, but are not allowed to pray there.
The hilltop religious site is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinians have also rioted in annexed east Jerusalem and the West Bank, with the unrest raising fears of a wider uprising or even a third intifada. “Israelis are acting with bravery, courage, restraint, and determination to neutralize and kill the terrorists in the act”, he said.
Hospital officials put the death toll at four, with 13 others wounded.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and warned that those using violence and breaking the law “from whatever side” would be dealt with severely.
Four Palestinians have been killed while carrying out attacks against Israelis over the past week, while another three Palestinians were killed in protests and clashes in the West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said 288 Palestinians were injured, including 10 by live fire. In recent weeks, clashes have erupted at the holy site between Palestinian rock-throwers and Israeli police.
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He insisted the Palestinians are not interested in a further escalation but that his “hands are with those who are protecting Al-Aqsa mosque”.
