Israel attacks leave at least two dead and several wounded

TEMPO.CO, Jerusalem-Palestinian men armed with knives and a gun killed at least two people and wounded several others in a string of attacks in Jerusalem and a Tel Aviv suburb on Tuesday, police said, on a “Day of Rage” declared by Palestinian groups.

Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement in a speech to parliament.

Israeli police say the death toll from a pair of separate stabbing and shooting attacks in Jerusalem has risen to three. Attacks on Israelis have continued despite messages from members of the Palestinian leadership saying it does not want to get drawn into a wider escalation.

Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said that a Palestinian young man was shot dead after allegedly attacking and injuring an Israeli soldier inside a bus. The second attacker was subdued by a crowd. Nearly simultaneously, another Palestinian rammed his vehicle into a bus stop and stabbed people there. One of the assailants was killed, an ambulance service spokesman said, and the other captured.

In Monday’s first stabbing, an 18-year-old Palestinian identified as Mustafa al-Khatib attacked a policeman with a knife at an entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City and was shot dead by security forces.

A total of 15 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and 11 in the Gaza strip, in addition to 1,300 Palestinians who were shot and hurt by Israeli gunfire, the ministry said. Hundreds of Palestinians have been injured.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian Liberation Organization official, accused Israel on Sunday of inciting violence against Palestinians, citing recent calls by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat for all Jewish Israelis to carry licensed firearms. Peace talks broke down more than a year ago, and prospects for relaunching diplomatic efforts to end the conflict appear nil.

According to reports in the Arab media, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has been trying to reduce tensions in recent days by ordering Palestinian media to reduce its coverage of clashes. Cops shot the attacker.

Netanyahu is also coming under mounting criticism, with a poll suggesting that Israelis would prefer his combative former foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, to be handling the crisis.

The main Palestinian factions, including the Western-backed Fatah movement and the Hamas group, declared a “Day of Rage” on Tuesday across the occupied West Bank, Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem, accusing Israel of “escalating its crimes against our people” and carrying out “summary executions”. The leaders of Israel’s Arab community have called for a commercial strike in their towns and villages.

Since the Jewish New Year last month, eight Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in a shooting, a stoning and a series of stabbings. The rumors ignited clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian activists who hurled stones and firebombs at them from inside the mosque, and the violence has spread.

Israel has dismissed the rumors and repeatedly said there are no plans to alter a longstanding status quo at the spot, revered by Jews as the site of the biblical Temples and today home to Islam’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.