Germany accuses two Palestinians of planning attack on Israeli embassy

Soldiers shot and killed the driver of a auto who tried to run them over in one attack during an Israeli arrest raid in the Qalandia refugee camp, the army said.

Later the same day, Sameh Abdul Momen, an 18-year-old Palestinian, succumbed to injuries sustained last month when he was shot by Israeli security forces at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus.

“Initial reports suggest that they were wounded by fire [shot by other Israeli soldiers] directed at the attacker”.

Since mid-September, Palestinians have killed 19 Israelis in stabbings, shootings and vehicular rammings. During the current wave of violence, at least 115 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the police response has been “proportional”.

Palestinian medical sources said four people were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after a clash that erupted during the raid, which the army said was intended “to arrest suspects and confiscate weapons”.

Israeli officials rejected the charges by the B’Tselem group.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, the Israeli spokesman added that three Israeli soldiers, lightly wounded during the incident, have been transferred to a nearby hospital.

Israeli authorities this week said they opened an investigation into the actions of the police officer who killed her, to determine whether he used excessive force.

“While the number of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli civilians, soldiers and police has increased significantly since the beginning of October, there is never any excuse for the Israeli military and police forces using lethal force where it is not warranted”.

“Yesterday, it was Lebanon, France, Russia, the United States; but war has been raging for years in Iraq and Syria”, he said.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land called Wednesday in his Christmas message for Israel and the Palestinians to halt a wave of deadly violence while denouncing extremist attacks worldwide.

“We are exhausted of this conflict as we see the Holy Land sullied with blood”, the Jordanian patriarch said.