Israelis injured in four stabbing attacks, with more unrest expected before Friday prayers
A Palestinian has died after being shot in clashes with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem, as another day of violence saw four stabbing attacks on Israelis and raised fears of further escalation on Friday, when thousands of Palestinians will enter Jerusalem’s old city to pray.
Ahmad Bitawi, the director of Ramallah hospital in the West Bank, said Wissam Jamal, 20, had arrived with a bullet wound to the chest. Witnesses in the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem said clashes had broken out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces.
Separately, police in Tel Aviv shot and killed a man who attacked four Israelis with a screwdriver, while two Israeli soldiers were stabbed in separate incidents and a Jewish student was stabbed in Jerusalem.
There are fears that the increasingly violent clashes will erupt before Friday prayers at al-Aqsa mosque, access to which has been heavily restricted in past weeks.
Israeli police have begun installing metal detectors around the entrances to the old city and on some streets inside. Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, urged residents with gun licences to carry their weapons at all times.
“Given the current escalation in the security situation, those with a licensed firearm who know what to do with it must go out with [their weapon] – it’s an imperative,” Barkat told Army Radio. “In a way, it’s like military reserve duty.”
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/israeli-ministers-and-lawmakers-barred-from-sensitive-jerusalem-holy-site
