Two Palestinians killed in car-ramming attempts on soldiers

Samri said the forces were conducting arrests and confiscating weapons in the Qalandiya refugee camp, near Ramallah.

The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of Ahmad Jahajha, 21, and Hekmat Hamdan, whose age was not disclosed.

Issuance of construction permits for Palestinians living in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, is strictly limited, forcing those living in this area to embark on construction without obtaining a permit.

Mr Abbas was speaking as a poll showed widespread Palestinian support for continuing attacks on Israelis, on a day when a Palestinian from east Jerusalem rammed his vehicle into a crowded bus stop, wounding nine people before bystanders shot him dead.

The army said it was checking whether the soldiers were hit by Palestinian gunmen or by friendly fire.

The senior United Nations rights official demanded an independent investigation into killing of all Palestinians by Israeli forces.

On Sunday, a 16-year-old Palestinian girl was shot after allegedly trying to carry out a stabbing attack near the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in the occupied West Bank.

“The time has come for the global community to understand that the reason there is no negotiation and no progress toward peace is not Israel’s fault but that of the Palestinian side”, Netanyahu said Tuesday during a tour of the Israel Defense Forces Southern Command headquarters, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement released to the Israeli media.

The Palestinians say it is the result of frustrations stemming from Israel’s almost 50-year occupation.

Meanwhile, also on Monday, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas referred to the last three months of violence against Israelis as a “justified popular uprising,” saying that young Palestinian demonstrators were “driven by despair” because “a two-state solution is not coming”.

“We call on both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to act decisively to de-escalate the situation”.