A Palestinian motorist has rammed his vehicle into a group of Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint, leaving three of them injured, the military said. The fact that Israelis have been able to defend themselves from many of these stabbings by gunning down would-be killers as they chase or stab victims is held against the Jewish state in much the same manner as it was blamed for its ability to prevent more casualties from Hams rocket attacks with the Iron Dome system. Of those, 56 are said by Israeli to have been attackers.
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An attack near the same location late last week by a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli man, an American Jewish student and another Palestinian.
IDF forces who responded to Sunday’s attack immediately shot and killed the suspected stabber, identified as Atzam Tuabata, a 34-year-old resident of Beit Fajar, near Bethlehem in the West Bank.
An assailant stabbed and wounded four Israelis, including a 13-year-old girl, in southern Israel on Saturday before fleeing the scene, setting off a large manhunt, police said.
Figures released Sunday by Israel’s first aid agency, Magen David Adom, show that since the beginning of October, 22 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians.
An Israeli woman in her 20s was lightly injured in the stabbing, and another was shot by bullets meant for the assailant. As a result, these readers were easily mislead into believing that an innocent Palestinian girl was shot dead.
Mr Kerry is expected to met the Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday.
Information on the condition of the two teen attackers was not available. This female Palestinian teenager and another 14-year-old Palestinian girl used scissors in an attempt to stab and mortally wound Israelis.
The attack occurred at the Gush Etzion junction near Jerusalem, the scene of multiple Palestinian attacks against civilians and security forces over the past two months.
More than half of the Palestinians killed have been alleged attackers, while others were shot during demonstrations and clashes with Israeli security forces, including along the Gaza border.
The current wave of unrest began in mid-September amid tensions over the Al-Asqa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, which is a site sacred to both Muslims and Jews.
Kerry has repeatedly called for both sides to take “concrete steps” to reduce tension and end provocative rhetoric, but his words have had little impact on the ground.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the officer ordered the girls to halt their attack, and shot them when they came toward him.
“There’s no agreement to be reached between the parties right now”, one senior U.S. official said.
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Several were arrested in connection to the attack, which took place hours after a separate incident in the West Bank, when a young Palestinian man armed with a knife approached IDF soldiers.
