Israel on high alert after days of Palestinian attacks

A Palestinian demonstrator stands amid smoke of burning tires ahead of clashes with Israeli safety forces in Beit El, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Thurs.

And the violence has spread beyond Jerusalem and the West Bank, the historical hot spots.

The unrest is largely linked to Muslim agitation over Jewish access to a contested holy site in Jerusalem.

Two Israeli Bedouins and two Palestinians were hurt when an Israeli stabbed them in apparent retaliation for a wave of attacks on Israelis. A Palestinian suspect fled but was caught by police. Rosenfeld said the assailant was apprehended at the scene and was being questioned.

Arab-Israeli lawmakers said they would attempt to visit the site on Friday, the Muslim Sabbath.

In Tel Aviv, a terrorist stabbed a female soldier and stole her weapon.

In response to the terror situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City off limits to Knesset members and elected officials.

Earlier Thursday, a Palestinian stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student, 25, in Jerusalem, wounding him seriously, police said.

Ahmed al-Hirbawi, Shadi Dawla and Abed al-Wahidi, all aged 20, were killed when soldiers responded after youths threw stones at them on the Israel side of their common border, Gaza medics said. At least two of the victims were Arab Israelis while it was still unclear whether the other two were Arab Israeli or Palestinian, police said.

Five of the Palestinians who carried out the stabbings have been killed.

Three Palestinians have also been killed, and scores wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces during stone-throwing demonstrations in East Jerusalem and across the West Bank, leading to talk of a third Palestinian uprising, or intifada. According to Army Radio, the victim was a soldier who was not wounded. The attacker was tackled and taken into custody.

Haniyeh has called “a strengthening of the intifada, the only road that can lead to liberation”.

Palestinian witnesses said those killed and wounded had been fired on by army snipers from guard posts along the fence, Reuters reported. “The forces reported hearing live fire from them”, an Israeli military spokesman told CNN.

The development came only hours after an Israeli man stabbed and injured four Palestinians in the southern Israeli city of Dimona, which lies in the Negev desert and 36 kilometers (22 miles) south of Beersheba.

Frequent protests and clashes have occurred there in the last few months.

He insisted the Palestinians are not interested in a further escalation but that his “hands are with those who are protecting Al-Aqsa mosque”. Samri said men under 45 are barred from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound while women of all ages can enter. Near Hebron, an Israeli policeman was stabbed by a Palestinian who was then shot dead. The attack took place at a light rail station near Jerusalem’s main police headquarters.

The unrest began about three weeks ago at a sensitive holy site in Jerusalem.

In all, four Israelis have been killed in stabbings by Palestinian attackers and a roadside shooting in recent days.