Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian in clashes near Al- Aqsa in Jerusalem
Netanyahu bans Israeli ministers’ visits to Jerusalem Al- Aqsa
The Palestinian was shot in the chest and fatally wounded at the Shuafat refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem, according to the Red Crescent and hospital sources
Jerusalem, Oct. 8: Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian during clashes in east Jerusalem Thursday on their way to the home of a man accused of an earlier stabbing attack, medics said.
The Palestinian was shot in the chest and fatally wounded at the Shuafat refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem, according to the Red Crescent and hospital sources.
The incident followed days of unrest, including rioting in east Jerusalem and the West Bank as well as a spate of stabbing attacks targeting Israelis.
The stabbings have deeply unnerved Israelis and authorities have struggled to prevent them, with the suspects often young Palestinians believed to be acting on their own.
The police said that the victim of Thursday’s attack was a 25- year- old Jewish man who was in a serious condition after being stabbed in the neck near one of Jerusalem’s main thoroughfares.
The attack took place near a tramway station close to the national police headquarters, the police said. The 19- year- old Palestinian, said to be from Shuafat refugee camp in annexed east Jerusalem, later assaulted a tramway guard and tried to take his gun before fleeing. “He was arrested by police special forces who
were in the area,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.
Rioting in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank has seen youths throwing stones and firebombs face off against security forces firing rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. Further clashes broke out at the Bet El checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.
Over the past week, four Israelis have been killed and five Palestinians, three of them after alleged attacks on Israelis.
With rising tensions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has banned Israeli Cabinet ministers and legislators from visiting a sensitive Jerusalem holy site.
After a right- wing outcry, Mr Netanyahu’s office clarified that the ban on politicians’ visits to alAqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City would also include Arab parliamentarians. It said in a statement that the move was aimed at “cooling things down around the Temple Mount”.
However, Arab Israeli lawmakers have vowed to defy Mr Netanyahu’s decision.
“Neither Netanyahu nor the right will be able to stop us from entering our Al- Aqsa mosque,” Israeli Arab MP Ahmed Tibi said on Thursday, calling the ban “senseless and illegal”. Thirteen of Israel’s 120 MPs are Arabs.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Jerusalem on Thursday stoked a controversy by asking Israeli residents of the holy city to carry their weapons to foil any possible terrorist attacks from Palestinians.