Eighty-two Palestinians in all have been killed by Israeli forces.
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In the Gush Etzion region, a 21-year-old Israeli woman was found unconscious following a stabbing.
In answer to a question about Netanyahu comparing the recent attacks in Israel to those in Paris that left at least 129 people dead, the official said that the State Department has encouraged both sides to “put an end to provocative rhetoric”. Mesika is former head of the “Samaria regional council”, which represents Israel’s illegal settlements in the northern West Bank, the Palestinianian news agency Maan said.
Against the polarised backdrop, Kerry is due to visit Israel and the West Bank next week to push for the violence to end.
A Palestinian radio station in Hebron has been stormed and closed down by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as part of an “incitement” crackdown campaign launched by the Israeli government in the wake of deadly terror attacks on Israelis.
An Israeli woman was stabbed in the West Bank, while the Palestinian attacker was killed, in the third such attack on Sunday, according to Israeli authorities. The military said soldiers shot at the attacker, although his condition and identity were unknown.
Israeli media reports said the woman was around 20 years old, but there was no official confirmation of this. Unsuccessful in his attempts, he exited his vehicle and tried to stab Israelis at the junction.
“This is not terrorism by organisations”, he said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
Over the past two months, Palestinian attacks have killed 17 Israelis, mostly in stabbings, while 85 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s response.
On Saturday evening, a Palestinian man stabbed and injured four Israelis in the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Gat.
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The statement pointed out that Israeli forces arrested roughly 700 Palestinian children across the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) in the course of the current uprising that surged early last month. 18 Israelis and an American student have been killed. Secretary of State John Kerry will reportedly pay a visit to the affected areas this week and meet Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday.
