Israeli police said the attacker, thought to be Palestinian, was killed.
Advertisement
The clashing narratives share a deep-rooted sense of vulnerability. Israel has adamantly denied the allegations, saying there are no plans to change the status quo and accuses the Palestinians of incitement by spreading the rumors. “The answer is to stand together, Jews and Arabs”.
Israeli security officials are identifying the assailant of an Israeli bus station attack as a 21-year-old Arab citizen of Israel.
The attacks, carried out seemingly randomly by attackers with no known membership to organized militant groups, have unnerved Israel.
They say that due to the growth of Israeli settlements, the land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River has effectively become a binational entity, with Israel ruling over several million Palestinians.
Israel has accused Palestinian and Muslim leaders of inciting violence against Israel.
Sunday’s violence came as Israel further tightened security around the country, highlighted by the construction of a barrier separating Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. The concrete blocks resemble part of the West Bank security barrier. Palestinians from east Jerusalem have been the driving force of the knife attacks, and as a result, their status has grown even more precarious, with Israel putting up roadblocks that constrict travel in and out of their neighborhoods.
On Friday, Palestinian assailants firebombed the West Bank compound. They live mostly in a maze of autonomous zones surrounded and dominated by the Israeli army. The area is under Palestinian control but Jewish prayer is permitted there when co-ordinated with authorities. In that time, 33 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 16 labeled by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops.
Jibril Rajoub, a top Palestinian official, praised the Palestinian attackers.
The mistaken shooting of the migrant, for reasons that remain unclear, seemed to capture the current climate of ratcheted up tensions among Israelis after months of seemingly random lone-wolf attacks by Palestinians. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while being careful not to condemn the stabbings for fear of appearing too close to Israel, has nonetheless instructed his security forces behind the scenes to try to calm the situation. The border policewoman shot and killed the suspect.
Sporadic peace talks over the past two decades have failed to progress beyond the autonomy arrangements of the 1990s.
The Israeli military removed dozens of Jewish worshippers Sunday who clashed with Palestinians after illegally entering a biblical shrine in the West Bank that was recently torched by Palestinians.
At least four of the assailants were killed, according to the Washington Post. They also have a host of explanations for what many around the world see as missed opportunities that may not come again.
Thirty Israelis arrived at Joseph’s Tomb in the city of Nablus and were assaulted by Palestinians before being handed over to Israeli forces by Palestinian police, reports say.
An unnamed witness quoted by the Palestinian news agency Maan said the woman had experienced an electrical malfunction with the auto, causing a small fire and the airbag to deploy. But despite the global hectoring, Israel has not been truly punished: it has a mighty alliance with the US, favored trading status with Europe, growing relations with Asia and a per capita gross domestic product to rival Britain’s. Palestinians say the violence is in response to anger over the Jerusalem holy site and also almost 50 years of occupation and lack of hope for the future.
Arab areas in Jerusalem have been blocked off to prevent the series of stabbings of Israelis.
Palestinian assailants carried out a series of five stabbing attacks in Jerusale…
Both sides have traded blame about who is responsible for the ongoing violence.
Advertisement
“Israeli measures to legalise the killing of Palestinians or quell their protests fail to suppress a population revolting against injustice”, Arafeh told Al Jazeera.
