Jerusalem hit by fresh knife attack as clashes erupt in West Bank

Jerusalem was shaken by its first stabbing in two weeks Friday as violence intensified in the occupied West Bank with fresh clashes and knife attacks in a surge of Palestinian unrest.

A Palestinian stabbed and lightly wounded a civilian in Jerusalem, where the wave of violence first erupted a month ago over the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a highly sensitive site sacred to both Muslims and Jews.

The attacker was shot and severely wounded, while a bystander was injured when security forces opened fire on the assailant, police said.

The identities of the stabbed civilian and the wounded bystander were not immediately clear.

Jerusalem had been calm in recent days as Israel clamped down on weeks of unrest with a massive boost of security forces and increased checkpoints, but violence has shifted to the occupied West Bank with daily clashes and stabbings.

In the city of Nablus, two Palestinians allegedly tried to stab members of Israeli forces guarding a major checkpoint, and were shot, police said. One died and the other was wounded and arrested.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, in the volatile city of Hebron, hundreds of youths lobbed stones, firebombs and burning tyres at Israeli soldiers who hit back with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Violent clashes also erupted in Ramallah and Bethlehem as angry youths protested Israeli occupation amid a surge of unrest that has raised fears of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Also in Ramallah a Palestinian hurled a Molotov cocktail at border guards and was shot and wounded, police said.

In the Gaza Strip, protesters clashed with Israeli forces along the northern and eastern borders.

- Protests in Hebron -

Knife attacks, shootings and protests have become near daily occurrences since simmering tensions over the status of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound boiled over.

The violence has left nine Israelis dead.

The death of the latest attacker took the number of Palestinians killed in the recent unrest to 63, including many shot in anti-Israeli protests.
One Israeli Arab attacker has also been shot dead.

For the second week in a row no restrictions were placed on Muslims heading to pray at the Al-Aqsa compound in east Jerusalem.

The site is revered as the holiest in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount, and is the third-holiest site in Islam.

The recent unrest arose amid renewed fears that Israel plans to change the rules governing the site, igniting long-simmering Palestinian anger over decades of occupation and stalled peace efforts.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted he will not change the status quo.

Hebron, home to the supposed final resting place of the prophet Abraham -- revered in both religions -- is another powder-keg.

Many of the attackers who have targeted Israeli forces come from the city.
The location of the attacks in Hebron has also been symbolic, with most taking place in and around the Cave of the Patriarchs, where Abraham and other religious figures are supposedly buried.

On Friday, dozens of protesters outside the holy site, known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque, condemned restrictions on access to the site imposed by Israel, which has split it into a mosque and a synagogue.

Hebron, a city of 200,000 Palestinians, has long been the commercial heart of the occupied West Bank.

But the presence of 500 Israelis settlers near the city centre, protected by barbed wire, watchtowers and a buffer zone patrolled by the Israeli army, has helped make it a hotbed for unrest.

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.

The Maariv newspaper reported that more army checkpoints were being set up in Hebron at the entrances and exits to Jewish areas, where Palestinians aged 15 to 25 will not be allowed to pass.

Source: AFP