Stabbing attacks continue despite tighter security
JERUSALEM — Palestinian assailants carried out five stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Saturday, authorities said, as a month-long outburst of violence showed no signs of abating. At least four assailants were killed.
The unrest came despite new security measures that have placed troops and checkpoints around Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, where most of the violence has taken place, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said a 16-year-old Palestinian drew a knife on officers early Saturday when they asked for identification after a bystander said he was behaving suspiciously. She said the officers shot and killed the teenager after he tried to stab them. The incident took place near where two Palestinian men boarded a bus earlier in the week and began shooting and stabbing passengers, killing two.
Later, another assailant tried to stab a policeman on the outskirts of Jerusalem, but struck his bulletproof vest and did not injure him. The assailant was shot and wounded. Police said when an officer approached to treat the attacker, he pulled out a second knife and attempted to attack him. He was then shot and killed.
The other three stabbing attacks Saturday took place in the West Bank city of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint where a few hundred Jewish settlers live in close proximity to tens of thousands of Palestinians.
In the first incident, Israel’s military said an Israeli pedestrian shot and killed a Palestinian who tried to stab him. Later, police said a Palestinian woman stabbed a female officer at a border police base in Hebron and lightly injured her before the officer shot her dead. At night, the army said a soldier was stabbed and moderately wounded before the attacker was shot. There were no immediate details on his condition.
Over the past month, eight Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, most of them stabbings. In that time, 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 19 labeled by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops.
The daily attacks have caused a sense of panic across Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of heavy violence.
The violence erupted a month ago over the Jewish New Year, fueled by rumors that Israel was plotting to take over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, a hilltop compound revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and home to the AlAqsa Mosque, Islam’s thirdholiest shrine.