A wave of violence that had subsided in recent months flared up again on Friday as three attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank underscored the edgy mood between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Israeli authorities said three Arabs who had tried to attack security officers and civilians with knives and a car were shot and killed in separate assaults, shattering the late-summer calm. A Palestinian woman who was in the car used to ram Israelis was shot and in critical condition, while an Israeli soldier and three Israeli civilians were treated for light wounds.
The outbreak of hostility renewed fears of a potentially wider conflict, but there was no public indication that the attacks had been planned together or that they necessarily signalled a sustained escalation. In general, the series of attacks that started nearly a year ago have appeared to be individually motivated rather than the work of a coordinated campaign.
The first assault took place at the iconic Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City in Jerusalem. Around 1 p.m., according to the authorities, a knife-wielding man rushed border police officers, calling out, “Allahu akbar!” Arabic for “God is great!” The police shot him to death and later reported discovering another knife on his body.
The man was identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Saed Amro, 28, a resident of Jordan, according to the Arabic news media. Israeli officials said he had crossed into Israel over the Allenby Bridge the day before.
To the south, Israeli troops near the entrance of Kiryat Arba, an Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron in the West Bank, shot at a car that had tried to run down Israelis, the authorities said. Three were reported hurt.
The gunfire killed the driver, a Palestinian identified as Fares Musa Khdoor, 18, from a nearby village, Bani Naim. His fiancée, identified as Raghd Abdullah Khdoor, 18, was wounded. Israeli news media reported that she was the sister of a woman who rammed her car into a bus stop near Kiryat Arba and was killed less than three months ago.
Israeli forces later imposed a blockade on Bani Naim in response to the attack.
In a third attack, a Palestinian teenager stabbed an Israeli soldier in the face at a checkpoint in Hebron and was then shot to death. The assailant was identified as Muhammad Kayyed al-Rajabi, 15. The soldier was hospitalised with light injuries.
Other episodes on Friday did not lead to deaths but reinforced the tensions. An Israeli bus driver sustained light injuries from shards of glass when stones and a bottle filled with paint were thrown at his bus in an Israeli settlement east of Jerusalem.
At the Jalazoun refugee camp near the Beit El settlement, Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers. Two young men were shot and wounded while others were hit by rubber-coated bullets, according to Arabic news media.
The Palestinian Authority called the shootings of the Palestinians on Friday “crimes” that it said confirmed the Israeli government’s “ policy of escalation,” according to Reuters.
Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, exhorted Palestinians to escalate acts of resistance against Israeli soldiers and settlers to avenge what it called the blood of innocent martyrs.
More than 30 Israelis and two American visitors have been killed since the attacks began last fall, while more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis, many while attacking or poised to attack, according to the Israeli authorities.
The Israeli authorities said three Arabs who had tried to attack security officers and civilians with knives and a car were shot and killed in separate assaults, shattering the late-summer calm. A Palestinian woman who was in the car used to ram Israelis was shot and in critical condition, while an Israeli soldier and three Israeli civilians were treated for light wounds.
The outbreak of hostility renewed fears of a potentially wider conflict, but there was no public indication that the attacks had been planned together or that they necessarily signalled a sustained escalation. In general, the series of attacks that started nearly a year ago have appeared to be individually motivated rather than the work of a coordinated campaign.
The first assault took place at the iconic Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City in Jerusalem. Around 1 p.m., according to the authorities, a knife-wielding man rushed border police officers, calling out, “Allahu akbar!” Arabic for “God is great!” The police shot him to death and later reported discovering another knife on his body.
The man was identified by the Palestinian Health Ministry as Saed Amro, 28, a resident of Jordan, according to the Arabic news media. Israeli officials said he had crossed into Israel over the Allenby Bridge the day before.
To the south, Israeli troops near the entrance of Kiryat Arba, an Israeli settlement on the outskirts of Hebron in the West Bank, shot at a car that had tried to run down Israelis, the authorities said. Three were reported hurt.
The gunfire killed the driver, a Palestinian identified as Fares Musa Khdoor, 18, from a nearby village, Bani Naim. His fiancée, identified as Raghd Abdullah Khdoor, 18, was wounded. Israeli news media reported that she was the sister of a woman who rammed her car into a bus stop near Kiryat Arba and was killed less than three months ago.
Israeli forces later imposed a blockade on Bani Naim in response to the attack.
In a third attack, a Palestinian teenager stabbed an Israeli soldier in the face at a checkpoint in Hebron and was then shot to death. The assailant was identified as Muhammad Kayyed al-Rajabi, 15. The soldier was hospitalised with light injuries.
Other episodes on Friday did not lead to deaths but reinforced the tensions. An Israeli bus driver sustained light injuries from shards of glass when stones and a bottle filled with paint were thrown at his bus in an Israeli settlement east of Jerusalem.
At the Jalazoun refugee camp near the Beit El settlement, Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli soldiers. Two young men were shot and wounded while others were hit by rubber-coated bullets, according to Arabic news media.
The Palestinian Authority called the shootings of the Palestinians on Friday “crimes” that it said confirmed the Israeli government’s “ policy of escalation,” according to Reuters.
Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, exhorted Palestinians to escalate acts of resistance against Israeli soldiers and settlers to avenge what it called the blood of innocent martyrs.
More than 30 Israelis and two American visitors have been killed since the attacks began last fall, while more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis, many while attacking or poised to attack, according to the Israeli authorities.