Israel arrests 400 Palestinians in 10 days

The nearly daily Palestinian knife attacks and clashes between Israeli soldiers and stone-throwing Palestinians are not at the levels of violence of past Palestinian uprisings, but the escalation has prompted talk of a third “Intifada”.

The Detainees and Ex-Detainees Committee, in a press statement, said that Israel has detained around 650 Palestinians since the beginning of October 2015, including minors, women and the injured, a few of whom are still languishing in Israeli hospitals.

Last week Palestinians shot two Israelis to death in front of their children in the West Bank, and in a separate attack killed two Israeli men and wounded a mother and toddler in Jerusalem. It is the only path that will lead to liberation.

The Israeli military said it fired toward protesters who approached the border.

Violent protests resumed after the man’s funeral, with rocks and firebombs hurled toward police, who responded with fire and lightly wounded two people.

Israeli security forces stand behind burning tires during clashes with Palestinians in Beit El, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday. Thousands of Israeli police were deployed in Jerusalem’s Old City ahead of the Friday prayers, which passed without incident.

Many Palestinians believe Israel is trying to expand the Jewish presence at the site, a claim which Israel adamantly denies.

Violence between Israelis and Palestinians is threatening to spiral out of control after unrest spread to Gaza, the Palestinian death toll rose and there was a new stabbing by a 16-year-old in Jerusalem.

Tensions have surged in 11 times of violence in which actually four Israelis and 16 Palestinians overvallen as well as a great many assailants view by policemen, happen to killed in East Jerusalem, the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Gaza and Israeli highly urbanized cities. Overnight, another Palestinian from Gaza died of injuries he sustained during clashes with Israeli troops east of Gaza City and Khan Yunis along the border with Israel, bringing the number of Palestinians killed in the clashes to seven. Earlier, a Palestinian stabbed four Israelis with a screwdriver in Tel Aviv. Gaza medics said six people were killed and 50 wounded.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner says that given the history of Palestinian attacks along the Gaza border, Israel “must consider any breach of the buffer zone with Gaza to be a potential threat both to civilians and security forces”. Israeli mayors have encouraged residents with gun licences to carry their weapons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the attacks a “terror wave”.

Amid that climate, the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound has served as a rallying cry and a symbol of statehood for Palestinians.

In a televised speech, Netanyahu asked Jewish and Arab political leaders to steer clear of the site Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims the Noble Sanctuary for fear that any visits could spark an “explosive” event.

Due to its heavily contested nature, longstanding agreements between Palestine and Israel have prevented Jewish visitors from praying at the site, a measure meant to avoid provoking tensions. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has spoken out against violence and in favor of “peaceful, popular resistance”, but many youths are frustrated with his leadership as well as Israel’s government.