Israeli security forces gather at the scene of a stabbing attack, where a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier before he was shot dead, in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on September 17, 2016. The Palestinians say it is rooted in almost 50 years of military occupation and dwindling hopes for independence. The attacker was shot and hospitalized in critical condition. Security forces opened fire, killing one of the Palestinians and wounding the other.
Advertisement
Israel says the vast majority were attackers.
While the latest assailants are believed to have acted on their own, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Qanoua on Monday said the Islamist movement that runs Gaza welcomed the attacks.
Numerous attacks have been centered around the flashpoint city of Hebron, where Palestinians live in close proximity to settlers and Israeli troops.
While visiting the wounded officers, Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said: “We’re dealing with a cruel enemy who is influenced by murderous incitement”.
The police had shut down the main gates to the old city of Jerusalem, including Herod’s Gate were the attack took place and which is located at the corner of the three commercial roads.
The compound is the third holiest site for Muslims and the most sacred for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
Officials fear the upcoming Jewish holidays and the recently ended Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday could be behind the raised tensions.
Shortly afterward, two Palestinians rammed their auto into a bus stop, wounding three Israeli civilians near a West Bank settlement.
Since October, 227 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, one Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed in ongoing violence, according to an AFP count.
Advertisement
Samri says the assailant is in his 20s and from east Jerusalem.
