Israelis yesterday shot dead three Palestinians they said had attacked them with knives in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Hebron, the latest in a month of violent confrontations.
Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said a 16-year-old Palestinian drew a knife on officers in Jerusalem when they stopped him to ask for identification after a bystander said the teen was behaving suspiciously.
Samri said the officers shot and killed the teenager after he tried to stab them.
Photo: Reuters
The incident took place near where two Palestinian men boarded a bus earlier in the week and began shooting and stabbing passengers, killing two.
Israel’s military said an Israeli pedestrian shot and killed a Palestinian who tried to stab him in the West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint where a few hundred Jewish settlers live in close proximity to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The military said the Palestinian was shot dead before he could harm the pedestrian.
Later, police said a Palestinian woman stabbed a female officer at a border police base in Hebron before the officer shot her dead.
The officer’s hand was lightly wounded, police said.
Over the past month, eight Israelis have been killed in attacks, most of them stabbings. In that time, 34 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 17 labeled by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops.
Most of the attacks on Israelis have been carried out by Palestinians with no known ties to militant groups.
The daily attacks have caused a sense of panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of heavy violence.
The incidents began last month over the Jewish New Year, fueled by rumors that Israel was planning to take over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, a hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and home to the al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine and a key national symbol for Palestinians.
Israel has adamantly denied the reports, saying it has no plans to change the “status quo” at the site, where Jews are allowed to visit, but not pray.
Palestinian fears have been fueled by a growing number of Jews visiting the compound in recent months, especially during holidays, with the encouragement of rights groups and senior government officials.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has at times tried to calm the situation by saying violence is not in the Palestinians’ interest and behind the scenes has ordered his security forces to reduce frictions.
Israel accuses him of incitement, saying he has not condemned attacks on Israelis and falsely accused Jerusalem of having “summarily executed” a Palestinian boy who stabbed an Israeli boy.
The Palestinian teen is recovering in an Israeli hospital.
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