On Saturday, Israel reported a stabbing attack and two other attempted attacks by Palestinian assailants in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
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A Palestinian wearing a T-shirt with the word “press” in large letters stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier Friday before being shot dead by troops, the latest in a monthlong spate of attacks.
Palestinians and supporters protest outside the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says the Palestinian woman stabbed the officer at a border police base, lightly injuring her hand, before the officer shot her dead.
The Israeli, who was carrying a gun, shot and killed the attacker.
Shortly after the arson attack on the tomb of biblical patriarch Joseph, Palestinian protesters threw stones over the border of the Gaza Strip at Israeli forces who fired back, killing two and wounding scores of others in the crowd, Palestinian medical officials said.
On Friday, four Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian protestors torched a site revered by Jews in the West Bank overnight in an incident that threatened to further inflame over two weeks of deadly unrest, as fresh protests were planned for Friday.
The shrine is under Palestinian control and off-limits to Israelis except on escorted trips organised by the army.
NBC News reports that in the early hours of Friday, hundreds of Palestinians entered the compound and set it on fire.
A series of attacks, mostly stabbings, have unnerved Israel, which has responded by beefing up security nationwide and imposing checkpoints in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
A Palestinian eyewitness disputed the police account of what happened, saying that the shooting took place when Jewish settlers attacked an unarmed Palestinian man. Palestinian and Muslim leaders have alleged Israel is attempting to change long-standing arrangements that bar Jews from praying on the hilltop compound, a claim denied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has said he plans to travel to the Middle East soon to try to calm the violence.
In his call with Netanyahu, Kerry reiterated his strong condemnation of terrorist attacks against innocent civilians and support for Israel’s right to defend its citizens.
Since the beginning of October, at least 36 Palestinians and seven Israelis have been killed.
Riyad Mansour told an emergency session that the Council must “shoulder its responsibility in maintaining worldwide peace and security” and “urgently intervene to end this aggression”.
The mosque sits on a site in the Old City called the Temple Mount by Jews and the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims.
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The Foreign Press Association for Israel and the Palestinian territories and the committee to protect journalists firmly condemned the attack – calling on Palestinian media organisations to verify press credentials “to ensure there are no violations”.
