Israeli police said Sunday they are restricting access to Jerusalem’s Old City after a Palestinian man killed two Israelis and wounded two others in a stabbing attack late Saturday.
The two-day ban will not affect Palestinians who live, work and study in the Old City, but others in East Jerusalem will not be allowed entry.
Another restriction bars access to the sensitive al-Aqsa Mosque compound for men under the age of 50. There will be no age restrictions on women, and worshipers will be allowed to enter through one specific gate.
The Palestinian government denounced “Israeli escalation” after the announcement of the ban, which Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan called unprecedented.
Police in Jerusalem said Saturday’s attack happened as a husband, wife and toddler were walking near the mosque. The attacker stabbed them multiple times, killing the father and another nearby man, and leaving the mother and child hospitalized.
A police spokeswoman said the attacker, later identified as 19-year-old Mohannad Hallabi from the West Bank, took a gun from one of his victims and opened fire on police and nearby tourists before being killed.
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said the attacker was a member.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would meet security chiefs later on Sunday to discuss more action to tackle a rising wave of violence in East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, and the West Bank, areas that Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Palestinians claim the territory as the capital of their future state.
Saturday’s attack came two days after an Israeli couple and their four children were shot dead in the occupied West Bank.
The United States condemned it, with State Department spokesman John Kirby saying Washington was “very concerned about mounting tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
High alert
Israeli security forces have been on high alert during recent Jewish and Muslim holidays, particularly with Jews visiting the sensitive al-Aqsa compound, which they call the Temple Mount.
The eight-day Jewish Sukkot holiday began last Sunday and has continued all week.
Recent clashes at the al-Aqsa compound in East Jerusalem have seen Palestinian protesters throwing stones and firebombs at non-Muslims, who are allowed under Israeli law to visit the site.
There were clashes elsewhere overnight and on Sunday.
In the West Bank city of Jenin, Israeli soldiers raided a refugee camp to arrest a Hamas official identified as Qais al-Saadi, Palestinian security sources said.
Clashes broke out, leaving two Palestinians wounded by live fire and 16 others by rubber bullets, security and medical sources said.
Three Palestinians were arrested, but not Saadi, according to the Palestinian sources. The Israeli military confirmed two arrests.
In the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, some 200 masked protesters threw stones at Israeli police, who responded with rubber bullets. The attacker in Sunday morning’s stabbing, identified as Fadi Alloun, was from Issawiya.
Some material for this report came from AP, AFP and Reuters.
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