Israeli officer dies in Palestinian attack, 3 assailants killed as violence continues

Mayor Nir Barkat said the men’s arrival with weapons in Jerusalem meant a further clampdown on access routes from the adjoining Israeli-occupied West Bank should be examined.

An Israeli border policeman patrols an area near the scene where three Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli police after carrying out a shooting and stabbing attack outside Damascus gate to Jerusalem’s old city. Israeli troops also rounded up residents and took away a number of them after the killing of an officer.

Damascus Gate is frequently used by Palestinians to enter the Old City, though sometimes by tourists as well.

The violence that began in October has been dominated by stabbings, and lesser numbers of shootings and deliberate hit-and-run attacks.

“Among the provocative acts documented by Euro-Med researchers against Palestinians in Jerusalem were performance of Talmudic prayers near Muslim worshippers, beating, throwing rubbish, cursing, death threats and preventing worshippers from reaching the mosque”, the report said.

The Border Policewoman who was wounded told the Prime Minister how the incident unfolded, including the action taken by the Border Police and her involvement.

Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have continued to rise since, with a almost five-month long wave of violence now roiling the region.

Palestinians say it is rooted in frustrations stemming from almost 50 years of “wrongful” Israeli occupation.

“The assumption is that the Border Police combatants weren’t the assailants’ target”, he said, noting that the terrorists opened fire at them after being approached and asked for their ID.

The Middle East country said the violence has been fuelled by a Palestinian “campaign of lies and incitement”. It is still unclear if they were affiliated with one of the militant Palestinian groups. Numerous attackers have been young people, including teenagers, who appear to have been acting alone. The two were arrested.

An Israeli court on Thursday sentenced two Israelis to life and 21 years in prison for the 2014 murder of a 16-year-old Palestinian.

A court had found the Israeli teens and a third Israeli – an adult named Yosef Haim Ben-David – responsible for Abu Khdeir’s murder in November.

The two others were 16 when they killed Abu Khdeir in 2014 but are now 18.

A closely watched court case was also set for later on Thursday.

Hussein, the father of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir who was killed in 2014, talks to journalists after a hearing on February 4, 2016 at the Jerusalem district court. He was supposed to be the first of the three to receive punishment in court last month, however, his lawyers filed a petition for the judges to review a new physiological evaluation-Ben-David confessed to the crime days after the killing and led police on a reenactment tour across Jerusalem.