Hamas Gaza chief calls unrest a new ‘intifada’

Seven Palestinians, including four alleged attackers, have been killed in the unrest.

Furthermore, al-Quds highlighted as part of its main news page item that a Palestinian young man from the Hebron town of Adh-Dhahiriya allegedly stabbed and injured an Israeli in Petah Tikva, a city to the east of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli army also fired foul-smelling “skunk bombs” at the area. “They know how to use weapons”, said Barkat, himself a former Israeli paratrooper commander.

“This will serve to legalize the shooting of Palestinians”, he said, warning that the murder of Palestinian protesters by Israeli troops could lead to another popular uprising, or intifada.

The attacks were initially confined to East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territory seized by Israel in the 1967 war and claimed by the Palestinians for their future state.

The violence has shown no signs of abating, with three stabbing attacks reported Thursday. When Israeli police – acting on intelligence that the Muslims planned to throw the stones at Jews praying at the Western Wall, below the Temple Mount – confronted them at the mosque, televised newsfootage outraged the Arab world.

Israeli police say a Palestinian was shot and killed after he stabbed an officer in the West Bank and tried to take his gun.

The officer was lightly injured and the Palestinian assailant was killed, police said. Many Palestinians fear that the Jewish state is trying to change the status quo around Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.

A Jewish suspect stabbed and wounded four Arabs in southern Israel on Friday, police said, in the first such attack after a spate of stabbings in recent days targeting Israelis. The men were evacuated to a hospital for treatment. Palestinians have held dozens of protests across Israel and the West Bank and have carried out several terrorist attacks.

Dimona mayor Beni Bitton said the stabber is a “mentally ill man”. The victim was severely wounded and the attacker fled.

“We (spit on) the prime minister’s decisions”. He said whoever deploys violence will be brought to justice.

On Thursday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that a ban on ministers and members of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) from visiting the al-Aqsa compound applied to Arab representatives as well. They feel if Palestinians decreased the pressure, the Israeli government would waste no time destroying their holy place. His comments provoked a counter posting with the Palestinian speaking from the grave, saying he was killed while seeking police aid.

“We have seen such hard things since our birth that we can no longer tolerate the occupation, which makes our lives impossible”, added Ahmed, 16. But this past week the violence has spread to Tel Aviv, Afula and other Israeli cities.

It is the latest in a series of knife and gun attacks on Israelis, many concentrated in Jerusalem, the city that both sides claim as their capital.

Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with security forces, throwing stones and firebombs at them.

Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli forces in a number of locations in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, where a 20-year-old protester was killed by live fire, according to witnesses. With the attacks spilling into the Israeli heartland, Netanyahu has warned rattled Israelis to be on guard.

The current wave of terror attacks is chiefly executed by lone-wolf terrorists who only have to buy a sharp knife.

The head of Hamas’ Gaza branch has reportedly called for a new intifada as unrest in Israel and the West Bank continues. The hilltop compound is a frequent flashpoint and its fate is a core issue at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The attacks followed weeks of tension over access to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the holy site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif.