Tensions have been escalating across Israel and the West Bank, amid a spate of terror attacks on Israelis over the past week which have killed four people and left six people seriously injured.
Today, a number of terror attacks took place across the country. In Tel Aviv, an female IDF soldier was stabbed in the head and had her weapon taken by a terrorist. The attack took place on the corner of Moses Street and Menahem Begin Boulevard near the Kirya Military Headquarters in the city centre. Police believe the terrorist was a worker at a neighbouring construction site. Four people, including the soldier, were lightly wounded in the attack and have suffered cuts to their upper bodies. The Palestinian terrorist was shot and killed by passing security forces.
Shortly after the attack in Tel Aviv, four Israelis were stabbed in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron, with one of the victims reported to be in serious condition. Israel’s security forces are currently in pursuit of the terrorist.
Earlier today an Israeli man was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack on Bar Lev Street in Jerusalem.
Metal detectors have been installed today around around Jerusalem’s Old City as a preventative measure, after several of the attacks have taken place there.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today announced that he was banning politicians from entering the holy site of Temple Mount, in order to allay tensions. Under a longstanding arrangement administered by Islamic authorities, Jews are allowed to visit the site during certain hours but not to pray there, while Muslims are permitted to visit and pray.
The recent wave of violent attacks intensified on Wednesday, as seven people were injured in a number of separate terror incidents. On just Wednesday alone, the IDF recorded 143 terror incidents taking place throughout Israel. These included three stabbings, 105 stone-throwing attacks, and 35 molotov cocktail attacks.
A week ago, an Israeli mother and father were shot and killed in front of their four children as they drove in the West Bank and two Israelis were stabbed to death in Jerusalem’s Old City. Two Palestinians were also killed in clashes with security forces.
On Wednesday, an Israeli man in his 20s suffered superficial stab wounds outside a shopping centre in the central city of Petach Tikva (located near Tel Aviv) after a 25-year-old Palestinian from near Hebron left a bus and attacked him. Meanwhile, in the southern city of Kiryat Gat, a Palestinian man attacked an IDF soldier with a knife and briefly stole his weapon before being shot dead by police.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, an Israeli woman was lightly injured as she commuted from the West Bank near Bethlehem to Jerusalem, when her car was attacked by a Palestinian mob who hurled rocks at her vehicle and attempted to drag her out from it.
In Jerusalem, an 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man in his 30s in the Old City. However, the man was able to shoot the assailant, who was seriously wounded. The attack happened just hours after Israeli authorities lifted temporary restrictions on Palestinians entering the Old City.
On Wednesday evening, two Israelis were lightly wounded after a 30-year-old Palestinian man rammed his vehicle into a military checkpoint near Ma’aleh Adumim in the West Bank. Border Police fired shots at the vehicle and apprehended the driver.
Elsewhere that day, IDF soldiers also prevented a stabbing in Jerusalem’s Abu Tor neighbourhood and rocks were thrown in Jaffa.
