Israel reimposes Al-Aqsa Mosque restrictions

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

The vicious spike in violence between Palestinians and Israelis has now spread beyond Jerusalem and the West Bank, the historical hotspots.

According to an Israeli official, Netanyahu ordered the ban on the holy site because he was concerned that any high-profile visits there could spark further violence.

Netanyahu has said repeatedly he is committed to the status quo.

As prime minister, Netanyahu has the authority to order police to halt the visits on security grounds, and his office said the ban was open-ended.

The fate of the hilltop site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The site is sacred to both Judaism and Islam and, as such, has become a focal point of discord.

The United Nations human rights chief is calling for calm in the West Bank after a week of spiraling tension, warning that “more bloodshed will only lead to more hatred on both sides”.

The Israeli military said “More than a thousand rioters infiltrated the buffer zone engaging the forces at the security fence”.

“We have known worse times than this and we will also overcome this wave of terrorism with determination, responsibility and unity”.

“We are taking strong action against the terrorists, rioters and inciters”, Netanyahu said.

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

“There was a violent riot of 350 Palestinians who were hurling firebombs and rocks, rolling burning tires and shooting fireworks at the IDF forces”.

A Palestinian stabbing attack had occurred in the same city a day before. The sources identified one of the dead as 14-year-old Shadi Dalalah. Scores of Palestinians were injured. including 17 hit by live gunfire, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. He said whoever deploys violence will be brought to justice. Another soldier shot the attacker dead, Israel police spokeswoman Luba Samri told CNN. In the past week, four Israelis and seven Palestinians have been killed – four of them after alleged attacks against Israelis.

October 2, 2015: An Israeli border policeman exchanges blows with a Palestinian man during a confrontation after Friday prayers outside the Old City in Jerusalem. Passersby captured the assailant and held him till police arrived.

On Wednesday, there were six attacks in which 9 Israelis were injured, Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

It was the latest in a series of Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers this week that have shocked the country. The victim was severely wounded and the attacker fled.

Local media is also reporting that a Palestinian suspect has stabbed and seriously injured an Israeli in Kiryat Arba, a settlement near Hebron. Israeli security forces are still looking for that attacker.

Hours earlier, a Jewish seminary student was wounded in a Palestinian knife attack on a main road in Jerusalem.

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. Muslims, who revere the site as the Noble Sanctuary, protest the decision.

On Wednesday, Palestinians stabbed and wounded three Israelis in attacks in occupied East Jerusalem, in a town in southern Israel and in a city near Tel Aviv.

The stabbings have deeply unnerved Israelis and authorities have struggled to prevent them, with the suspects often young Palestinians believed to be acting on their own. He has instructed his security services to prevent terror attacks against Israelis and to hold back the violence on the streets.