Violence flares as Kerry arrives in Israel

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Jerusalem Tuesday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to ease weeks of bloodshed, but hopes for a breakthrough are faint a day after four people were killed.

The victim of the stabbing, a man in his 70s who suffered light injuries to his upper body, was a Palestinian from the West Bank, police said.

On Sunday, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces after he stabbed to death a 21-year-old Israeli woman near the illegal Israeli settlement bloc of Gush Etzion. She died shortly after paramedics transported her unconscious to a Beersheva hospital. The alleged assailant was shot and killed following the attempt.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would let Israel’s army operate with “no restriction” in an effort to stem two months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the officer ordered the girls to halt their attack, and shot them when they came toward him.

One of the two girls, who were apparently cousins, died while the other was in critical condition.

She said a 27-year-old Israeli security guard had his hand injured by stray gunfire, and was also taken to hospital.

On Sunday, an Israeli woman was stabbed to death and three Palestinian attackers were killed in a series of incidents in the West Bank.

During this period of violence, 23 Israelis have been killed and 192 wounded, 20 of them seriously.

In the morning, two Palestinian high school girls, aged 14 and 16, stabbed and lightly injured a 70-year-old Palestinian man, apparently mistaken for Israeli, in a busy outdoor market in Jerusalem.

The wave of violence since October 1 has left 89 dead on the Palestinian side, including one Arab Israeli, as well as 16 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

Closed-circuit television footage on YNet of the stabbing showed the two young Palestinian women, their right arms raised and making stabbing gestures, advancing on the sidewalk toward a man who then appeared to draw a handgun.

In the message, Xi also stressed that China’s backing for the Palestinian people’s justice course is earnest and selfless while China is a staunch supporter and honest mediator for the Palestinian-Israeli peace.

The violence began in mid-September over tensions surrounding a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, before spreading across Israel and into Palestinian territories.

Abbas on Monday once again accused Israel of aiming to change the status quo on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and that it is carrying out “extrajudicial killings” of Palestinians carrying out terror attacks against Israelis. The Palestinians say the violence is rooted in frustration over almost a half-century of occupation and they accuse Israel of using excessive force to suppress the unrest.