At a Jerusalem bus stop where a Palestinian from Jabel Mukabar stabbed and killed an Israeli man on Tuesday before being shot dead, an Israeli woman sounded a defiant note.
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Israel gave the police authority to seal off Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem on Wednesday and will deploy soldiers on main roads to combat the worst spate of violence across Israel, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank in years.
The Prime Minister’s office announced last weekend that about 1,600 reserve border police officers have been mobilized in Jerusalem, where many recent attacks have occurred, and throughout Israel as “a primary preventive and deterrent measure”.
At least three Israelis were killed and many others wounded.
The cabinet also approved an expansion of the national police, extra guards on public transport and the deployment of army units in “sensitive areas” along the steel and concrete barrier that separates the West Bank.
Israeli police said 300 soldiers had already been incorporated into their deployment on the streets of east Jerusalem, where numerous assailants are from.
A Palestinian man stabbed a 70-year-old woman and moderately wounded her in a stabbing attack in central Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, the Israeli police said.
“These police actions and operations are meant to fairly respond to the wave of terror and knifing, within the framework of trying to return law and order to all citizens of the state”, said Luba Samri, an Israeli police spokeswoman.
Before the stabbing, the suspect asked an Arab man if he was of Arab descent but the man convinced the attacker that he was not, according to the Times of Israel. His identity was not immediately known.
A Palestinian pushes burning tries during clashes with Israeli…
Israel began setting up roadblocks in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem and deploying soldiers across the country on Wednesday to stop a wave of Palestinian knife attacks.
Gilad Erdan said the funeral processions of Palestinians who killed Israelis often turn into “an exhibition of support for terror and incitement to murder”.
Erdan says Wednesday that Israel should not allow them to “enjoy respect and ceremonies” after their deaths.
Clashes broke out between the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinians in Bethlehem in the West Bank after a Palestinian’s funeral.
Israeli paramilitary border police used their vehicles to block an exit at the edge of Jabel Mukabar, an East Jerusalem neighborhood home to three Palestinians who carried out deadly attacks against Israelis on Tuesday. Israel has adamantly denied the allegations and accused Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence and spreading lies.
The causes of the turmoil are multiple, but Palestinians are angry about what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, an area that is holy to Muslims and Jews.
He also quoted recent statements by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in which he blessed “every drop of blood spilled for Allah” and asserted that Jews desecrated a Jerusalem holy site with their “filthy feet”.
“This is not new”. “It’s all about disgusting, anti-Jewish, racist incitement”. They were carried out by men that Israeli authorities claim have ties to Palestinian terrorist groups. He says peace and stability will only be achieved if Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian territories. “Measures of collective punishment and killings and arrests and demolishing houses and confiscation of lands will only lead to the escalation of the situation”.
When the president, who speaks with the accent of his native tongue, Bengali, said “Hummus”, the Israel Parliament heard “Hamas”, the Palestinian militant group that has been at war with them for years. He threatened to submit a case at the worldwide Criminal Court against what he called Israel’s “extrajudicial killings” of Palestinians.
Palestinians repeatedly barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, hurling stones and firebombs at police.
The violence quickly spread across Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Violence has once again broken out near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate Plaza, where police on Wednesday shot and killed a man dressed in combat fatigues and armed with a knife.
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The Obama administration issued a strong condemnation of Palestinian incitement and assaultsagainst Israelis. The White House and State Department said Wednesday that Secretary of State John Kerry plans to visit the region soon to try to encourage calm, but released no details.
