Israeli Civilian Stabbed in West Bank Amid Israeli-Palestinian Tensions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned trip to Germany on Wednesday as a rash of Palestinian attacks spread from the West Bank and East Jerusalem to central and southern Israel, with police reporting three stabbings of Israelis within hours.

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian during clashes in east Jerusalem on Thursday on their way to the home of a man accused of an earlier stabbing attack, medics said.

Not far from the mosque, police said an 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed a 35-year-old Jewish man in the back and lightly wounded him.

At least three Palestinians were killed on Friday after Israeli soldiers fired at a crowd during a rally near the Gaza border.

At a news conference Thursday night broadcast nationally, Netanyahu said the past two days of terror attacks throughout the country were a direct result of incitement by those entities as well as neighboring Arab states and the Islamic movement in Israel.

With violence mounting, Israel also turned its attention to the social media front, asking Facebook and YouTube to remove videos it says have been encouraging Palestinian attacks.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian man stabbed a 25-year-old Yeshiva student in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to an Israeli official, Netanyahu ordered the ban on the holy site because he was concerned that any high-profile visits there could spark further violence.

Maan also reported that 12 Palestinians were injured Thursday in live fire by the Israeli army during clashes in the West Bank and that 59 have been hurt by rubber bullets. Security forces on their way to the suspect’s house then shot dead a Palestinian as clashes began, Palestinian medics said.

“Many terror attacks in Jerusalem have been prevented or neutralized due to the quick actions and response of responsible bystanders”, the municipality said. In the last week Israeli forces also wounded more than 630 Palestinians in demonstrations across the West Bank and Jerusalem according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Both sides were the targets of violence, amid fears of a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising, despite efforts to calm tensions.

With the attacks spilling into the Israeli heartland, Netanyahu has warned Israelis to be on guard.

The attack took place near the site of a fatal stabbing on Saturday night in which two Orthodox Jews were killed.

Jerusalem’s mayor talked about the violence. “I urge people who are allowed to carry weapons and are experienced in using them to carry their guns with them”.

Such violence against Palestinian civilian population cannot be considered as “war against terrorism” neither cannot be justified with Israeli security needs, but is the direct outcome of the Israeli Occupation. He said Jewish parliamentarians “infiltrated and caused provocations, and because of them there is an escalation; not because of Arab parliamentarians and worshippers who are entering the Mosque of Al-Aqsa”.

Palestinian protesters have repeatedly clashed with Israeli security forces in and around the complex in recent weeks.

And an Arab stabbed and wounded a soldier in the northern Israeli town of Afula before being captured, authorities said.