IS claims fatal stabbing in Israel, Palestine militants disagree

An Israeli policewoman was stabbed and killed in an attack outside Jerusalem’s Old City and security forces shot dead three suspected Palestinian assailants, police said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the fatal stabbing in a statement. If true, it would mark the first direct IS action against Israel and the group warned on its affiliate news agency it “will not be the last”.

“Let the Jews expect the demise of their entity at the hands of the Caliphate soldiers,” it said, calling the attack “revenge for God’s religion and for the violated sanctities of Muslims”.

However, Hamas and the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine said the three Palestinians shot dead in Jerusalem after the fatal stabbing belonged to local Islamist and leftist movements, rejecting IS’s claim.

Israeli police said no connection had been found between the three Palestinians who carried out the fatal attack and any organisation.

“It was a local cell. At this stage no indication has been found it was directed by terrorist organisations nor has any connection to any organisation been found,” police spokeswoman Luba Simri said.

The attack took place on Friday as Muslims marked the end of the third Friday of the month of Ramzan, during which tens of thousands of Palestinians from east Jerusalem and the West Bank attended prayers at the nearby Al-Aqsa mosque.

The policewoman was taken to hospital in critical condition and later died of her wounds. She was identified as Hadas Malka, 23, a staff sergeant major.