The other three stabbing attacks Saturday took place in the West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flash point where a few hundred Jewish settlers live in close proximity to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Advertisement
An 18-year-old Palestinian attacked a settler in Hebron and was shot by another citizen, not long before an Israeli border police officer at a nearby base was stabbed, resulting in his 16-year-old Palestinian attacker being shot.
A video, released on Saturday by Youth Against Settlements coalition, is raising questions about whether or not an Israeli soldier planted evidence on the body of a young Palestinian teen after he was reportedly shot by an Israeli settler.
The attack incident took place near where two Palestinian men boarded a bus earlier in the week and began shooting and stabbing passengers, killing two.
Half an hour later, a second Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli police in the Armon HaNatziv neighborhood of the annexed east Jerusalem, police said. The rest were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces, who have used tear gas, rubber bullets, as well as live ammunition against masked Palestinians who have hurled petrol bombs and rocks at them and at Israeli civilians.
Another 39 Palestinians, including 19 labeled by Israel as attackers, have been killed by Israeli fire.
Eight Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks over the past month, mostly in stabbings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have blamed each other while calling for an end to the bloodshed. The teenager was then killed by police when he attempted to stab them.
The military said the Israeli civilian shot and killed the Palestinian before the man could harm him.
Netanyahu, who is planning to travel to Germany this week for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, may also meet there with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has expressed concern about the mounting violence, the Haaretz newspaper reported, citing unidentified Israeli officials.
Joseph’s Tomb, inside a compound in the Palestinian refugee camp of Balata in Nablus, has been the scene of recurring violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Israeli media say the foreigner is an Eritrean national.
France has launched a diplomatic initiative to calm further escalation at the Al-Aqsa compound, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews who know it as the Temple Mount.
The Israeli military says it has removed dozens of Jewish worshippers who illegally entered a biblical shrine in the West Bank that was recently torched by Palestinians.
According to Reuters, at least four cities in Israel have temporarily banned Arab laborers from working in their schools, as the spike in Palestinian street attacks have surged in recent weeks.
Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israel’s fire Saturday evening in Hebron, south of the West Bank and at Jerusalem’s Qalandia checkpoint, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.
The attack came as Israel tightened security around the country, highlighted by the construction of a barrier separating Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem.
Advertisement
Violent protests have also erupted in east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
