Three Palestinians were killed in street clashes in Jerusalem and three Israelis died in a stabbing attack at a West Bank settlement as tensions turned into violence over the Holy Land’s most contested shrine.
A Palestinian sneaked into a home in the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank after nightfall on Friday and stabbed to death three Israelis, the military said.
The attacker apparently jumped over the fence and infiltrated the family’s home, surprising them as they ate the traditional Sabbath evening meal.
Photo: Reuters
It said the Palestinian killed a man and two of his children, while a woman was wounded and taken to a hospital.
The man’s grandchildren were present but not harmed, it said.
The army released footage showing a blood-covered kitchen floor.
A military spokesman called the attack “a massacre.”
Israel TV’s Channel 10 said the assailant was in his late teens and had posted on Facebook that he was upset by the events at the Jerusalem shrine.
Eli Bin, the head of Israel’s rescue service MDA, said an off-duty soldier next door heard screams, rushed to the home and shot the attacker through a window.
Bin said the wounded attacker was taken to a hospital.
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that he is freezing ties with Israel, dealing a blow to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to try to renew long-dormant peace talks.
Abbas said contacts with Israel would be suspended on “all levels.”
It was not immediately clear if this means that long-standing security coordination between Israeli troops and Abbas’ forces would be halted.
At issue in the current round of violence are metal detectors Israel installed at the Jerusalem shrine this week in response to an attack by Arab gunmen there.
The metal detectors are perceived by the Palestinians as an encroachment on Muslim rights and portrayed by Israel as a needed security measure following the attack that killed two Israeli policemen.
Earlier on Friday, several thousand Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank clashed with Israeli troops, burning tires and throwing stones and firecrackers.
Troops fired live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas. Three Palestinians were killed and several dozen hospitalized with live or rubber bullet injuries.
White clouds of tear gas rose from Jerusalem streets and West Bank flashpoints. In one neighborhood, Palestinians threw stones from behind a mattress used as a shield.
Israel also faced growing criticism from the Muslim world, and thousands staged anti-Israel protests after Friday prayers in Jordan and Yemen. Turkey and Egypt also condemned the violence.
The confrontations could escalate in coming days as both sides dig in.
Israel said the metal detectors would remain in place.
Israeli lawmaker Tzachi Hanegbi, a confidant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel would not surrender to what he said was “violence and incitement” by those “attempting to drag us into a religious war.”
Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric, Mohammed Hussein, said protests, including mass street prayers outside the shrine, would continue until the devices are removed.
On Friday, he told worshipers that they should prepare for a “long test of wills” with Israel.
“We will not back off,” he said.
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