Three dead in Jerusalem’s bloodiest unrest
JERUSALEM — Jerusalem suffered its bloodiest day yet yesterday in a recent wave of unrest, with at least three Israelis killed as Palestinian attackers shot at a bus and another rammed a car into pedestrians.
The bus attack was the first assault with a gun in Jerusalem in the two-week-old upsurge of Palestinian violence.
The rising tide of violence, which has seen a series of stabbing attacks and protests, has raised fears of a fullscale third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
A Palestinian was also killed in clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
In the intifadas of 1987-1993 and 2000-2005, hundreds of people were killed in near daily Israel-Palestinian violence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would use "all means" available to end Palestinian violence.
Speaking to parliament, he warned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas that he would hold him responsible if incitement led to a further deterioration.
Netanyahu's security cabinet early Wednesday unveiled a series of measures in response to the violence, including authorizing police to seal off or impose a curfew on parts of Jerusalem.
A statement from the cabinet also outlined authorization for the demolition of "terrorists' houses".
The United States was swift to condemn the attacks and call for calm.
"I continue to urge all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and I will stay in very close touch with leaders in the region in the days ahead," said US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Tuesday's assault on an east Jerusalem bus saw one Palestinian with a pistol and another wielding knives attack some 15 people, police said.
Two Israelis, including a 60-year-old, were killed, and around 10 were wounded, medics and police said.
One attacker was shot dead and the other was wounded.
"I was in my house and I heard between 20 and 30 shots between the police and the terrorists," a local resident said.
At around the same time, in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish area of the city, a Palestinian rammed a car into people at a bus stop and jumped out with a knife.