Israeli army: 2 Palestinians killed after stabbing soldier

Weeks before, two 16-year-old Palestinians were shot dead at the checkpoint, one of whom was run over and shot by prominent Israeli settler Gershon Mesika after he said she was attempting to carry out an attack.

The Palestinian, 26, from east Jerusalem, pulled out a knife from his pocket, attempting to stab one of them, according to the statement.

A wave of violence since the start of October has claimed the lives of 132 people on the Palestinian side, 19 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

A security guard who witnessed the stabbing fired at the Palestinian assailant, who surrendered to him and was then arrested, police said.

The Israeli military said the youths had stabbed a soldier in the village of Hewara.

Since mid-September, 20 Israelis have been killed in attacks.

No Israelis were injured in any of the incidents. According to a police spokeswoman, policemen approached a man who drew their suspicions just outside the Old City for following a pair of Jewish worshippers.

Officers opened fire, fatally wounding the man. “The terrorist whipped out a knife and tried to stab a police officer. He was swiftly shot and neutralised”, she said.

The surge in violence has been fueled by Palestinians’ frustration over Israel’s 48-year occupation of land they seek for an independent state and the expansion of settlements in those territories which were captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

The latest round of US-brokered peace talks collapsed in April 2014.

Also stoking the violence has been Muslim opposition to stepped-up Israeli access to Jerusalem’s al Aqsa mosque complex, which many Jews revere as a vestige of their biblical temples.

More than 120 Palestinians have died during this period, some during clashes with Israeli security forces, while others were gunned down after allegedly trying to commit attacks against Israelis.