Later in the day, Israeli border guards shot and killed a Palestinian attacker wielding a knife near the West Bank city of Nablus.
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Twenty-one Israelis have also been killed. The Palestinians say it is the result of almost half a century of Israeli occupation and frustration over repeated failures in peace efforts and a lack of hope for gaining independence.
According to IDF assessments, more than 95% of the attacks have been perpetrated by Palestinian “lone wolves” unaffiliated to any militant organisation, but incited to violence by social media, Hamas’s official media outlets, and Islamic State propaganda.
Palestinian security officers carry the body of 16-year-old Ibrahim Dawood during his funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon told Israelis to be prepared for more attacks by Palestinians.
The spokesperson added that the soldiers used a Ruger rifle with 0.22 caliber, used by security forces to disperse riots, considered less lethal than ordinary weapons used by the forces.
The Palestinian bus system in the West Bank is already underfunded and its operations are regularly hindered or halted by military checkpoints, clashes, and random passenger ID checks.
On Thursday, the commander of Israel’s premier paratrooper brigade, Colonel Nimrod Aloni, said tackling Palestinian violence was a matter of “a great degree of confusion”. Furthermore, construction permits for Palestinians are conditional on worldwide recognition of building in the Israel settlement blocs in the West Bank. He was shot and killed by a civilian, Ynet reported.
However, according to the Press TV, the US State Department quickly rejected any suggestion that Washington would change its longstanding opposition to settlements or recognize them as legitimate. Palestinians also accuse Israel of using excessive force in suppressing violence. Many of the Palestinians involved in the current round of violence have come from there.
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He said Abbas’s official television station should be shuttered.
