Palestinians shot trying to stab Israel cops

Earlier on Friday, two Palestinians attempted to stab a group of Border Police officers near the Tapuah Junction in the West Bank. They said the wounded man was in critical condition.

The top Palestinian officials urged the court to speed up a probe into allegations of Israeli abuses amid an upsurge of fresh violence between the two sides.

The Health Minister has reported that 71 Palestinians have been killed, and 921 Palestinians have been shot and injured with live Israeli army rounds, since the beginning of this month, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, while 855 were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets, and 208 suffered fractures and bruises after being assaulted and beaten by soldiers and fanatic settlers.

Israeli police said two Palestinians ran toward the West Bank checkpoint with knives in their hands, drawing Israeli fire that killed one and wounded the second.

As a result of the quickness-to-fire, survey responses show that 66 percent of Palestinian citizens of Israel feel “a high degree of insecurity”, fearing an Israeli could mistake them for an attempted attacker and shoot and kill them.

It was not immediately clear what prompted the incident, with no protesters nearby, and none of the journalist appearing aggressive. Clashes were also reported from the Ramallah area further north and Hebron to the south.

Since the latest unrest began on Oct 1, at least 65 Palestinians have been shot dead by Israelis.

An Israeli soldier continues to attack the medics with pepper spray even as they evacuate one of their injured colleagues on a stretcher.

Also Friday, Israeli forces imposed new restrictions on Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled center of Hebron, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, residents said.

“Taking into account the psychological state of the accused and her previous suicide attempts, it has been established that she tried to commit suicide again…by pretending to want to carry out an attack to get security forces to shoot at her”, the Justice Ministry said.

Hebron – home to a shrine known to Jews as Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque – is a city of 200,000 Palestinians, has always been the commercial heart of the West Bank.

A majority of those polled said they felt unsafe following an announcement by Jerusalem’s mayor Nir Barkat that Israelis should arm themselves and participate in stopping attacks against Israelis.

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to change the rules that allow Muslims to pray there, but not non-Muslims. Settlements that Israel has built on territory captured in 1967 are considered illegal by the United Nations under worldwide law. He quoted the mufti as saying “If you expel them, they’ll all come here”, referring to Palestine, and then said Hitler asked, “So what should I do with them?”

While a spate of protests and attacks in Jerusalem has eased, tensions have concentrated in Hebron, where near-daily clashes pit youths against soldiers has led it to be the focus of Israel’s security forces.

The Israeli military did not provide details.

The Israeli army said Thursday it will put in place “several precautionary measures… to contain potential attacks in the future and maintain the safety and well-being of Israelis” in the city.