Amid a wave of violence, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday urged Arab and Israeli leaders to stay away from one of the country’s holiest sites, in an effort to keep tensions from getting out of hand.
In a televised speech, Netanyahu asked Jewish and Arab political leaders to stay away from the site Jews calls the Temple Mount and Muslims the Noble Sanctuary, for fear it could spark an “explosive” event. Anger has been brewing among Palestinians over Israeli restrictions on access to the site.
The site is sacred to both Judaism and Islam and, as such, has become a focal point of discord.
In other remarks, Netanyahu was far more stern and contentious.
He blamed recent bloodshed on the Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, for what he called their “incitement and libels and lies.” He castigated those who used Molotov cocktails, knives, rocks as well as live ammunition against Israeli citizens and security forces.
“All of us, we’re in the midst of a wave of terrorism … terrorists that are incited, filled with hatred and trying to hurt people.”
Yet they won’t succeed, Netanyahu predicted.
“The radicals, the terrorists will not achieve anything,” he said. “We will prosecute them, and we will be victorious.”
More stabbing attacks
The violence has shown no signs of abating, with three stabbing attacks reported Thursday.
Two Israelis were assaulted within about an hour of each other Thursday, authorities said.
In Tel Aviv, a female Israeli soldier was stabbed with a screwdriver, allegedly by a Palestinian. Another soldier shot the attacker dead, Israel police spokeswoman Luba Samri told CNN. The attack left four people lightly wounded, including the soldier.
In the Kiryat Arba settlement in the West Bank city of Hebron, an Israeli man was in serious condition after being stabbed in the stomach, Samri said. Israeli security forces are still looking for that attacker.
Earlier Thursday, a Palestinian stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student, 25, in Jerusalem, wounding him seriously, police said. A 19-year-old Palestinian from the Shuafat refugee camp has been arrested in that attack at a light rail station near Jerusalem’s main police headquarters.
These are the latest in a series of knife and gun attacks on Israelis, many concentrated in Jerusalem, the city that both sides claim as their capital. Four Israelis were killed in two attacks last week.
And the violence has spread beyond Jerusalem and the West Bank, the historical hot spots.
A Palestinian assailant stabbed an Israeli soldier and grabbed his gun Wednesday in Kiryat Gat, an Israeli city roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tel Aviv, police said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he doesn’t want the situation to escalate.
Holy site at heart of unrest
Because of the violence, Israel announced Sunday it was reinstating restrictions on access to Jerusalem’s Old City.
Muslim men under the age of 50 will be prevented from attending prayers at what they call the Noble Sanctuary. Another security assessment will be made before Friday prayers, Israeli police said.
Palestinian protesters have repeatedly clashed with Israeli security forces in and around the complex in recent weeks.
The move by Israeli authorities to prevent Muslim men under 50 from attending prayers at the site angered Palestinian leaders. It followed an attack Saturday in which two Israelis were killed.
Attacks on both sides
The soldier who was stabbed Wednesday in Kiryat Gat was lightly wounded, Israeli authorities said, and police killed the attacker.
Also Wednesday, a Jewish man suffered light injuries in a stabbing by an Arab woman in Jerusalem’s Old City, police said. The man shot the woman, who was taken to a hospital in serious condition.
In the West Bank, a gun attack by Israeli settlers in Beit Sahour, a town east of Bethlehem, left two Palestinians hospitalized with serious wounds, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. One victim was shot with a live bullet in the chest and the other with rubber bullets in his feet, the agency said. Israeli police said they were aware of the incident.
In all, the Palestinian Red Crescent reports that 399 Palestinians were wounded Wednesday in incidents in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Protesters clash with soldiers
Farther north, hundreds of Palestinian protesters clashed with the Israel Defense Forces near the West Bank settlement of Beit El. Video of the arrests of at least two Palestinians showed uniformed Israeli soldiers and plainclothes men beating the detainees.
“There was a violent riot of 350 Palestinians who were hurling firebombs and rocks, rolling burning tires and shooting fireworks at the IDF forces. The forces reported hearing live fire from them,” an Israeli military spokesman told CNN. He said one of the men was shot before being detained and taken in for questioning.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians during the skirmishes. At least 171 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes, it said.