Israeli police shoot dead Palestinian in Jerusalem
Palestinians and rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force in trying to subdue the atackers
Police shot and killed a Palestinian on Sunday ater he stabbed an officer in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli police said.
In a statement, police said the atacker approached officers who were stationed in the Old City and stabbed one of them, injuring him lightly.
The officers opened fire and shot and killed the man, identified as a 19-year-old resident of east Jerusalem.
Israeli media reported a second officer was also lightly wounded as a result of the gunfire.
Police released a photo of a knife lying on a cobblestone alley in the ancient Old City, with blood splatered nearby.
Palestinians have carried out dozens of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming atacks targeting Israeli civilians and security personnel in recent years.
Many of the atacks have appeared to have had no links to militant groups.
Palestinians and rights groups have accused Israel of using excessive force in trying to subdue the atackers.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its Christian, Muslim and holy sites, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move unrecognised by most of the international community.
The Palestinians seek the occupied West Bank and Gaza for a future independent state, with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel’s prime minister has returned from a surprise trip to Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin and discussed the war in Ukraine.
Natali Bennet flew to Moscow on Saturday, where he met the Russian leader for three hours.
The trip was made “in co-ordination and with the blessing” of the Biden administration, according to Bennet’s office.
Bennet spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ater his meeting with Putin. He then flew to Germany to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Bennet landed in Israel on Sunday morning and is expected to convene his cabinet for its weekly meeting later in the day.
Bennet’s trip was the latest atempt at diplomacy in the Russia-ukraine crisis. Israel is one of the few countries that has good working relations with both Russia and Ukraine.
Israel has delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but also maintains ties with Moscow to make sure that Israeli and Russian warplanes do not come into conflict in neighboring Syria.
Bennet is co-ordinating his efforts in the crisis with the United States, France and Germany, an Israeli official said.
Ater his meeting with Putin, Bennet headed to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, his spokesperson said.
French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken to Bennet before he flew to Moscow to brief him on his own conversations with Putin, the Elysée Palace said.
“They will stay in touch with the aim of obtaining a ceasefire, and this in coordination with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz,” an Elysée official said.
Israel, at the behest of Zelenskiy, has offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though officials have previously played down expectations of any breakthrough.
In their three-hour meeting in the Kremlin, the Israeli official said, Bennet also raised with Putin the issue of the large Jewish community caught up in the war in Ukraine.
Israel will send medical teams to Ukraine next week to set up a field hospital that will provide treatment for refugees, its Health Ministry said.
While Israel, a close ally of the United States, has condemned the Russian invasion, voiced solidarity with Kyiv and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has said it will maintain contact with Moscow in the hope of helping to ease the crisis.
Israel, home to a substantial population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is also mindful of Moscow’s military support for President Bashar Al Assad in next-door Syria, where Israel regularly atacks Iranian and Hizbollah military targets.
Communication with Moscow prevents Russian and Israeli forces trading fire by accident.
Bennet and Putin also discussed the ongoing talks between world powers, including Russia, and Iran about reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.