Israelis stabbed in Jerusalem

Simultaneous attacks in Jerusalem have left three people dead and more than 20 injured Tuesday, including Israelis and two Palestinian suspects, medics said.

And in the Armon Anatziv area of Jerusalem, one person with a gun and another with a knife boarded a bus and launched an attack.

An attacker opened fire in a bus and another assailant rammed his vehicle into a bus stop and stabbed people in two separate incidents in Jerusalem, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Israeli media are reporting that there are more casualties in the attacks.

Police managed to kill one and wound the other, who was taken to a hospital – but not before two passengers had died.

Emergency services said they had also treated eight injured Israelis, four of whom are believed to be in a serious condition.

In another attack around the same time in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish area of Jerusalem, a Palestinian drove a vehicle into a group at a bus stop and exited with a knife.

The recent surge in violence has been building momentum for weeks, driven by anger over Israel’s on-going occupation of the West Bank and disputes over access to the Al Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. At least 28 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, including 12 identified by Israel as attackers and the rest in clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli troops.

The Israeli government have repeatedly vowed they have no intentions of changing the rules governing access to the site, and say Palestinian claims to the contrary amount to incitement to violence.

According to Grossman, the victim killed in the attack was approximately in his 60s.

The official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that “live ammunition” wounded at least five Palestinians at the Beit Hanoun crossing point Tuesday.

On Monday, dozens of Palestinian young men and demonstrators cut the border fence east of al-Bureij Refugee camp in central Gaza Strip and infiltrated into Israel, Palestinian witnesses and security officials said.

Frustrated Palestinian youths have defied president Mahmud Abbas as well as an Israeli crackdown by staging violent protests in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The main Palestinian factions, including the Western-backed Fatah movement and the militant Hamas group, declared a “Day of Rage” on Tuesday across the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, accusing Israel of “escalating its crimes against our people” and carrying out “summary executions”.

Al-Ayyam said dozens of Palestinians were injured during the clashes on Monday. The rumours ignited clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian activists who hurled stones and firebombs at them from inside the mosque, and the violence has spread.