Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian man Thursday following a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City that left three police officers wounded, Israeli officials confirmed, amid a spike in tensions and violent incidents in recent months.
Israel Police said the attacker, identified as Bader Amer, was identified in the area after acting suspiciously near one of the entrances to the Esplanade of the Mosques – known as the Temple Mount to Jews – the Times of Israel reported.
«During the examination of the suspect, he pulled out a knife and stabbed one of the officers in the upper body,» it has said, before adding that another officer was wounded by gunfire from another policeman during the event. A third police officer was injured, no further details have been released at this time.
The incident has taken place a day after a serviceman was seriously injured after being run over at a checkpoint near the West Bank settlement of Beit Horon. The driver, a Palestinian, was killed after being shot by Israeli forces.
Also on Sunday, five Israeli soldiers were wounded in two hit-and-runs south of the West Bank city of Jericho, an incident which also resulted in the death of the attacker after he was shot by Israeli soldiers.
On the other hand, on Wednesday, a Palestinian was wounded after being shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Jaras, south of Hebron, according to Palestinian sources quoted by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, without further details of the incident having transcended for the moment.