Palestinian dies, another shot as tensions high in West Bank

The woman, 18, attempted to stab soldiers Tuesday morning at the city’s Kikar HaShoter checkpoint which separates the Palestinian and Jewish sections of Hebron.

Clashes have erupted in Jerusalem between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police.

The Palestinian Wadi Hilweh Information Center said eight minors were arrested on Monday as Israeli military vehicles rolled into Ras al-Amud neighborhood of East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

In a new development, Israel has been restricting some Muslims from the compound when Jews visit.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said repeatedly he is committed to the status quo at the site.

The incidents are being “contained and handled within east Jerusalem“, he said.

The rifles are.22-caliber Rugers, which the government says are non-lethal, and that the police are or will be trained to shoot at people’s legs so as to avoid fatal injuries.

Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast War and has been controlling it ever since in a move condemned by the worldwide community.

With the latest death, at least 25 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2015, according to United Nations figures. The decision to shut down the mosque itself followed a failed assassination attempt on an Israeli-American activist whose organization strives to “liberate” the holy site of al-Aqsa mosque from Islamic “occupation”. Even when these attacks on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Jewish extremists supported by the Israeli government are clearly violations against worldwide law insuring free expression of religion within Jerusalem, they are ignored by the US press.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is also on the compound, and Muslim prayers are held inside.

Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told The Algemeiner that security is being heightened in and around Jerusalem to prevent and respond to the disturbances.

Although controlled by Israel, Temple Mount is governed by a Muslim body, the Waqf, whose rules include full access to Muslims and limited entry to Jews, who can visit but cannot do anything resembling worship.

Both incidents occurred in the Hebron area of the southern West Bank ahead of the Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha holidays and after three days of clashes rocked Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound last week.

But at a special meeting Sunday, Israel’s attorney general, Yehuda Weinstein, said he opposed the proposed changes in open-fire regulations or setting minimum penalties for stone throwers, saying the current regulations are sufficient.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier denounced the incursions by Israeli forces and settlers into the holy al-Aqsa Mosque complex.