Israeli authorities reported two more knives pulled, two more people shot dead in the spate of violence afflicting Israelis and Palestinians.
A Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli pedestrian in the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday, according to the Israel Defense Forces. But the Israeli civilian was armed, and shot the assailant dead, the IDF press office told CNN.
That was not the only incident Saturday, as person-to-person attacks are being perpetrated frequently.
Israeli border police approached a Palestinian man in the Armon Hanatsiv neighborhood of Jerusalem to conduct a check, and the man pulled a knife and tried to stab the officers, according to a communique from Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri.
Samri said “the policemen fired and neutralized” the suspect.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency services confirmed in a statement that the Palestinian man had died of his injuries.
Deadly clashes
Parallel to attacks with knives, guns and cars, protesters have rioted in Palestinian territories, many throwing rocks, and at times Israeli security forces have used live ammunition.
Five Palestinians were killed Friday in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Also Friday, 269 Palestinians were injured during confrontations with the IDF in the West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent told CNN.
Joseph’s tomb set alight
Overnight Thursday, a group of Palestinians set fire to a compound housing Joseph’s Tomb, a religious site in the West Bank venerated by Jews, sparking condemnations between Palestinian and Israeli authorities.
The tomb appeared unharmed.
Jews consider the site in Nablus the final resting place of Joseph, a high Israelite patriarch and son of Jacob who, according to biblical accounts, was sold into slavery as a boy but then rose to become a powerful figure in ancient Egypt, second only to the pharaoh.
Jewish devotees at times go to the tomb under Israel Defense Forces escort at night to pray. Christians also consider Joseph’s Tomb a holy site. It’s been targeted before — including in 2011 when vandals painted swastikas on its walls.
A Palestinian official, who asked not to be named, said that the fire was set while other people tried to keep Israeli forces out, whom they feared would tear down Palestinian homes.
Situation on U.N. Security Council agenda
Both sides have traded blame about who is responsible for the spate of violence.
In the past month, eight Israelis died in 30 attacks involving knives and other weapons, with many more being wounded. Some of the worst have been in Jerusalem — though Israelis have been targeted elsewhere.
The IDF said Palestinian attackers have wielded knifes against Israeli civilians and authorities, and Israeli security forces have turned their guns on them. Israeli authorities have also fired during Palestinian protests that have turned riotous.
In addition to those who died Friday, Palestinian officials said more than 30 Palestinians have been killed in the past month. More than 1,100 have been injured, mostly in fighting with Israeli forces.
Attacks not believed to be organized
The recent knife attacks have confounded Israeli authorities. They have spent millions to prevent suicide bombings with high concrete barriers and to stop rockets from Gaza with the Iron Dome anti-missile system.
But a knife is easy to obtain and carry into a crowd. Israeli authorities so far don’t believe the attacks are the result of any campaign of violence organized by militant groups.
Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, has praised the attacks but not claimed responsibility for them.
It’s often young Palestinians who may be acting out alone or recruited or at least encouraged via social media, Israeli authorities have said.
Civilians arming themselves
In this atmosphere of fear, many Israelis are changing the routes of their commutes, and many who have handgun permits are carrying weapons. Others are applying for permits.
The Israeli government has even called for them to do so.
In recent days, Israeli security forces have swiftly shot dead two Palestinian teenagers who attacked with knives. Abbas, the Palestinian President, accused Israel of committing what he called “extrajudicial executions.”
A coalition of human rights organizations — including Amnesty International and the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories — has said police and soldiers are “too quick to shoot to kill” and criticized calls for civilians to carry weapons.
Clashes at holy site
Palestinian resentments are hardly new, but Israelis and Palestinians have had better relations at times.
Those have since been buried by the second intifada, in which organized deadly attacks targeted Israelis from 2000 to 2005, and three wars in Gaza that killed thousands of Palestinians.
Recent developments have made things worse.
Hard-line Jewish activists have begun demanding greater access to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, in Jerusalem’s Old City, and right-wing politicians have called for the rights of Jews to pray there. Known as Haram Al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, it’s also one of the holiest sites in Islam.
The Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has accused Israeli security forces of escorting Jewish hard-liners onto the Temple Mount and into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Clashes at the site have become common.
Jewish settlements
Attempts by the United States to revive the Mideast peace process have fallen flat for more than a decade, with the most recent hopes being dashed last year, followed by the third Gaza war.
In the meantime, Israel has forged ahead with the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which cut crisscrossing furrows through Palestinian territory.