Israeli-Palestinian tensions soar after attacks

The three injured civilians were moved to Nablus hospital after sustaining moderate injuries in the legs, local sources reported.

Clashes broke out in areas including Jenin in the West Bank, where Israeli soldiers raided a refugee camp to arrest a Hamas official, and the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Issawiya, where the attacker in Sunday morning’s stabbing, identified as Fadi Alloun, was from.

Militant group Islamic Jihad said he was one of its members, but did not claim responsibility for the attack.

The attack comes at a time of heightened tension between Palestinians and Israelis.

On Thursday an Israeli couple was shot dead whereas their 4 youngsters have been in the automotive in a suspected Palestinian drive-by assault close to a West Bank Jewish settlement.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization, which governs the West Bank, tweeted Saturday that 35 Palestinians had been killed and 750 injured by security forces or Israeli settlers since January. Their four young children, including a four-month-old infant, were in the back seat of the vehicle during the shooting but were unharmed.

“They arrested eight people and conducted searches, entering properties by force and causing damage”, the police said. The Israeli military said she attacked a soldier with a knife, an account disputed by Palestinian sources.

Israeli forensic inspect the scene of an attack in Jerusalem’s Old…

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said his country was fighting “a battle against terrorism” and vowed to go after “the killers of innocent people”.

Israel may have to consider a military operation to deal with rising violence that is primarily focused on Jerusalem, Israel’s minister of intelligence and atomic energy, Mr Yisrael Katz, told Army Radio.

Isaac Herzog, opposition leader in Parliament, was one of several politicians who blamed Netanyahu for not doing enough to keep Israelis safe.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it would hold an emergency meeting today with heads of Israel’s security branches following the attack.

Tensions have been high in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem recently, with Palestinians and Israeli police clashing at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The Old City is the center of Jerusalem, the center of Palestine itself. The outer wall of the temple compound is the Jewish holy site known as the Western Wall. There will be no age restrictions on women, and worshippers will be allowed to enter through one specific gate. Many Muslims view these visits as a provocation and accuse Jewish extremists of plotting to take over the site.

Abbas in his United Nations speech accused Israel of trying to change the status quo at the site, which bars non-Muslim prayer, or to divide it. Netanyahu denied this in his speech, and accused Abbas of inciting the violence.

Israel has applied sweeping restrictions on entries into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound since August 26.

In Hebron, a large group of settlers marched through the streets of the segregated city chanting “Death to Arabs” and reportedly attacked Palestinian-owned homes.