Fresh Jerusalem stabbings as Israel weighs next moves

30 Nov, 2015

Stabbings at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City and near a bus stop Sunday left two people wounded and an attacker killed, while Israel closed a third Palestinian radio station accused of incitement. The attacks and closure of the station came with Israeli security forces struggling to halt two months of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming assaults.
Several weeks ago, an Israeli security crackdown in Jerusalem, including roadblocks in Palestinian neighbourhoods, was followed by a lull in attacks in the city, but violence has returned.
Early on Sunday, a 38-year-old Palestinian stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli border police officer at Damascus Gate, a main entrance point for Palestinians to east Jerusalem's Old City and the site of several previous attacks.
The attacker was identified as Bassem Salah from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Later in the morning, a foreign woman of around 30 was lightly wounded in a stabbing near a bus station in west Jerusalem and the attacker fled.
Police said a Palestinian suspect was later arrested near the scene.
Further details on the victim were not immediately provided.
Violence since October 1 has left 100 dead on the Palestinian side, including an Arab Israeli, as well as 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean. Many of the Palestinians killed have been alleged attackers, while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes.
Israeli troops on Sunday shot and wounded a Palestinian during what the army called a "violent riot" in the occupied West Bank.
A military spokeswoman told AFP that Palestinians hurled rocks and petrol bombs and fired slingshots at Israeli forces in Al-Bireh, between the town of Ramallah and the Jewish settlement of Beit El.
"The force identified a rioter with a lit fire bomb in hand," she said in English. "The force fired at the rioter... and a hit was confirmed." The extent of the man's injuries was not immediately known.
A visit last week by US Secretary of State John Kerry failed to produce any breakthrough, and debate has intensified within Israel on whether to take conciliatory steps to ease tensions or to respond more forcefully.
Palestinian leaders blame Israel for the wave of violence, saying its continued occupation and settlement building along with a lack of progress in peace efforts have led to hopelessness among young people.

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