Security forces deployed to Israeli cities yesterday and Jews armed themselves with everything from guns to broomsticks after more stabbings shook Jerusalem, the latest in a wave of Palestinian knife attacks.
Three hundred Israeli soldiers were reinforcing police, stretched thin by an upsurge in violence that began at the start of the month and which has raised fears of a full-scale uprising, or third Palestinian intifada.
It was not clear whether troops were on the ground yet.
Photo: AFP
The last time soldiers deployed in large numbers in Israeli cities was in an operation during the second Palestinian intifada in 2002, according to a security source.
Beyond the attacks, violent protests have erupted in annexed east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded, while at least 30 Palestinians have died, including alleged attackers. Hundreds of Palestinians have been wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces.
In the first two Palestinian intifadas, from 1987 to 1993 and from 2000 to 2005, hundreds of people were killed in near daily violence.
Israel’s best-selling newspaper was yesterday filled with photographs of Jews arming themselves with tear gas spray, broomsticks and rolling pins, while gun sellers said demand had skyrocketed.
“There is really a wave of terror, the characteristics of which are that civilians are in the front line, at very short range as a consequence of the fact that the main weapon is the knife, occasionally also firearms,” Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Yaalon told army radio.
On Wednesday, police began setting up checkpoints in parts of east Jerusalem, including at a neighborhood that was home to three Palestinians who carried out gun, knife and car-ramming attacks this week.
The move to install checkpoints followed a decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security Cabinet authorizing police to seal off or impose a curfew on parts of Jerusalem.
Despite the new security measures, there were two more stabbing attacks on Wednesday, one outside the Old City when a 20-year-old Palestinian tried to stab a security guard and was shot dead.
The other saw a 23-year-old Palestinian stab and wound a woman of about 70 near the crowded central bus station during rush hour before being shot dead by police, sparking panic among commuters.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2