Palestinian shot after he stabs Israeli soldier

■ Israel lifts Al- Aqsa age limit

Jerusalem, Oct. 23: Israeli forces shot and wounded a Palestinian assailant who stabbed and lightly wounded a soldier in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Army said.

“An assailant stabbed an IDF soldier during operational activity adjacent to the security fence in Gush Etzion,” a Jewish settlement bloc south of Jerusalem, an Army statement said.

“The force responded, firing towards the assailant.”

Medics said the soldier was lightly wounded. There was no immediate word on the assailant’s condition.

Palestinian security forces identified the assailant as Mussab Ghanimat, 17, from the nearby village of Sureif.

On Thursday, two men from Sureif stabbed a man in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh before being shot. One of them was killed and the other wounded.

Since October 1, at least 49 Palestinians and one Israeli Arab have been killed, including alleged attackers. Eight Israelis have been killed in attacks.

Meanwhile, Israel lifted age restrictions for the main weekly prayers at Jerusalem’s flashpoint AlAqsa mosque compound on Friday, in an apparent bid to ease tensions over the site that sparked a surge in Israel- Palestinian violence.

The decision, which allows all Muslim worshippers to attend Friday prayers, comes as Israel faces growing international pressure to defuse a crisis which many fear heralds a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

US secretary of state John Kerry, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and UN chief Ban Ki- moon were to hold talks on the escalating violence later on Friday.

The increasing diplomatic efforts came as Palestinian political parties called for a “day of rage” with protests to be held after Friday prayers in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas, the Islamist movement which rules the Gaza Strip, called in a statement for “more protests and more clashes with soldiers in the West Bank”.