Three Palestinians armed with automatic rifles, knives and bombs killed an Israeli police officer in the heart of Jerusalem on Wednesday before they were shot dead by police, Israeli officials said.
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In one of the most brazen attacks in the past five months of near-daily assaults on Israeli police, soldiers and civilians, two female police officers were wounded, one critically on Wednesday. The two other Palestinian men joined in the attack before being overpowered by additional Israeli forces.
In this Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 file photo, an Israeli border police officer searches a Palestinian man at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City ahead of Friday prayers.
Police officers opened fire and killed the three Palestinians, and defused some unidentified explosive devices they were carrying. One of the two policewomen had apparently been stabbed in the neck several times, and the other had been shot.
The member of the leftist Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said preparations for another war have included rebuilding attack tunnels destroyed by Israel two years ago.
Micky Rosenfeld, Israel Police Foreign Press Spokesman, tweeted the following images from the scene of the attack.
Israel’s internal security minister Gilad Erdan from the Likud party said the law is “an important enhancement of the police’s ability to more effectively battle terrorism and violence”.
According to Israeli authorities, the Palestinians were approached by border police.
The Ir Amim foundation, monitoring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Jerusalem, issued the report, reviewing the trends in planning, construction and settlement development in east Jerusalem over the course of the past year.
Major roads to and from the occupied West Bank pass through Israeli security checkpoints and a concrete wall runs through much of the area but the border is still porous in many places. “We’re talking about a terrorist attack where an immediate response by our officers prevented any people from being injured”.
The wave of violence has claimed the lives of 26 Israelis and one American student.
Eyewitnesses confirmed to Anadolu Agency that three Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank had been killed by Israeli troops after attacking a group of Israeli soldiers near the Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.
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Some analysts say Palestinian frustration with Israeli occupation, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership have fed the unrest. Please see our terms of service for more information.
