Several minutes later, two Palestinians in a vehicle, believed by police to have tried to attack the bus, opened fire near the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, the scene of multiple attacks over the past five months.
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Biden was in Israel at the time of the attack and said that his wife and grandchildren were having a meal on the beach near the place it occurred.
There has been a reported increase in violence by Palestinians during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel. Nearly simultaneously another Israeli was stabbed in the city of Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv.
Meanwhile, Palestinians unleashed a wave of attacks that killed an American tourist near where Biden was visiting and wounded a dozen Israelis.
He was reportedly shot dead by police as he fled.
Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, Israeli authorities said.
The stabbing spree took place Tuesday near the sea in the city of Jaffa, where Biden was meeting with Israel’s former president nearby.
The attacker from Tuesday night, Bashar Masalha, 22, was a Palestinian from Qalqilya.
Biden on Wednesday condemned Fatah’s glorification of the stabber.
“Unfortunately President Abbas has not only refused to condemn these terrorism attacks”. A Palestinian man was seriously wounded in the shootout. He described as a challenge “the persistent incitement in Palestinian society that glorifies murderers of innocent people, and calls for a Palestinian state not to live in peace with Israel, but to replace Israel”. Police are investigating whether he was shot by the gunmen or by police.
Biden also addressed the current defense aid negotiations between Israel and Washington, which were to be discussed during his visit, telling reporters that the United States is “committed to making sure that Israel can defend itself against all serious threats, maintain its qualitative edge with a quantity sufficient to maintain that”.
As part of moves to curb the violence, Israel’s government decided on Wednesday “to complete immediately construction of the barrier around Jerusalem and build a new stretch” in a sector near the West Bank hotspot of Hebron, according to a government statement.
In another, a Palestinian woman attempted to stab Israeli police forces in Jerusalem’s Old City before being shot dead.
The victim and owner of the shop pounced on the attacker, seized his weapon and killed him, the police said.
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