3 Palestinians, 1 officer killed in Israel firefight

JERUSALEM — A deadly firefight broke out in the heart of Jerusalem on Wednesday between Israeli police officers and three Palestinians assailants armed with rifles, knives and bombs, Israeli police said.

It was the first time a group of Palestinians appeared to have coordinated an attack against Israeli security forces. Israeli police said it marked a serious escalation in the daily violence that has plagued Israel and the occupied West Bank for more than four months.

Since Oct. 1, 27 Israelis have been killed, aswell as four foreign citizens, in a series of knifing, shooting and vehicular attacks. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed, more than 100 carrying out the attacks, and the rest during clashes with the Israeli military.

Wednesday’s shootout left one police officer dead. The three Palestinian attackers were also shot dead. Anda second Israeli police officer was critically injured.

An Israeli police spokeswoman said the two female officers had been on a routine patrol when they spotted two men acting suspiciously. When the men were asked for their identification by the officers, one pulled out an automatic rifle and started shooting, Samri said. The other two Palestinian men joined in the attack before being overpowered by additional Israeli forces.

Maj. Gen. Nitsan Alon, head of the Israeli army’s operations directorate, said Wednesday that the violence showed no signs of abating soon and that Israel needed to adapt its response accordingly.