Tension ahead of key US-Israel meeting

JERUSALEM and the Israeli occupied West Bank remain tense, as Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to meet US President Barack Obama tomorrow on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York amid a wave of stabbings in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

A Sunday press release by the Israeli Government Press Office stated that one of the main topics of discussion would be the IsraeliPalestinian conflict as the security situation in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territory continues to deteriorate. “The meeting also will be an opportunity to discuss the need for genuine advancement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the face of deeply troubling trends on the ground,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Over the past four days, there have been six stabbing attacks, and one car ramming, by Palestinians against Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and in the West Bank, resulting in five Palestinians being shot dead and the wounding of a number of Israeli police and soldiers, several of them seriously.

The latest attack yesterday morning involved a Palestinian stabbing two Israeli police officers inside Jerusalem’s old city.

The attacker was seriously wounded after being shot and one of the police officers was rushed to hospital in a serious condition.

In light of the fragile security situation, the Israeli security cabinet held an emergency meeting on Sunday ahead of the upcoming Tishrei Jewish holidays.

Netanyahu subsequently instructed the police forces to beef up their presence in Jerusalem while extra military battalions have been sent to the West Bank.

Netanyahu also instructed security forces to prevent right-wing Israeli politicians from visiting the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine. – ANA