Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in Jerusalem clashes: medics

Israeli police officers cordon off at the scene of the stabbing.

Four new stabbings wounded Israelis Thursday and an assailant was shot dead as a spate of such attacks spread fear and defied attempts by authorities to contain Palestinian unrest.

In reaction to the increased tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israeli police to prevent Israeli government ministers and Jewish members of the Israeli parliament from visiting the Temple Mount, also known as the Haram al-Sharif or Holy Sanctuary, on Wednesday. The ban did not apply to Palestinians who live, work and study within the Old City, or Israelis or tourists.

In other remarks, Netanyahu was more stern and contentious.

The Jerusalem hilltop compound is revered by Muslims as the spot where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the two Jewish biblical Temples. He castigated those who used Molotov cocktails, knives and rocks as well as live ammunition against Israeli citizens and security forces. “We have boosted our forces and are using all necessary means and methods in the fight against this terrorism”. Netanyahu said Thursday he was focusing on combating the violence and didn’t want to anger worldwide allies, who oppose settlement construction, at a time when Israel needed support for security measures.

“The radicals, the terrorists will not achieve anything”, he said.

In Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said it was vital for Netanyahu and Abbas to “show leadership to promote calm, encourage restraint and avoid actions which further fuel tensions”.

The toll does not include Thursday’s attacker in Tel Aviv as it was not yet confirmed whether he was Palestinian.

Elsewhere in Israel, police said a soldier shot and killed an Arab attacker Thursday after he stabbed four people with a screwdriver in Tel Aviv.

A soldier was moderately wounded in a stabbing attack in the northern Israeli city of Afula. Israeli security forces are still looking for that attacker.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, a Palestinian woman stabs a Jewish man before being shot and seriously wounded by her victim.

The Jerusalem municipality earlier issued a statement urging residents with licensed firearms to carry their weapons in light of the major increase in Palestinian terror attacks over the past month.

Many of these knife and gun attacks on Israelis have been concentrated in Jerusalem, the city that both sides claim as their capital.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem has intensified in the past few weeks. At least six Palestinians were reported wounded Thursday by rounds from low-velocity sniper rifles which security forces have been authorized to use against riot ringleaders.

Sunday Israel announced Muslim men under 50 would be denied access after two Israelis were killed there last week.

It was the latest violence in a week in which bloody attacks left four Israelis dead. The reported death of a teenager near the West Bank town of Bethlehem was the latest in a series of incidents. Clashes erupt in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.