Israeli PM postpones trip to Germany amid new unrest

It comes one day after Israel lifted measures preventing non-resident Palestinians from entering Jerusalem’s Old City.

A man cleans blood stains from the floor where an Israeli was wounded in a Palestinian stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City October 7, 2015. An 18-year-old Palestinian woman was shot after she stabShow more

JERUSALEM // Tensions simmered on Wednesday as police shot dead a suspect in southern Israel who stabbed a soldier and stole his weapon.

The incident came shortly after a Palestinian woman was shot and seriously wounded by an Israeli man whom she stabbed in Jerusalem’s Old City.

A day earlier, Israel lifted measures preventing non-resident Palestinians from entering Jerusalem’s Old City. The tight security measures were imposed following a series of deadly Palestinian attacks.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a visit to Germany set for Thursday to tackle the violence that has raged for three weeks despite appeals for calm.

Security officials from the two sides had met on Tuesday after the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said he did not want a violent escalation.

A suspect got off a bus in the city of Kiryat Gat on Wednesday and then stabbed a soldier while taking his weapon, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. He said police tracked him down as he fled into a residential building, and shot him dead. The suspect’s identity was not yet clear but that police were treating the incident as a terrorist attack.

Separately, an 18-year-old woman in Jerusalem stabbed an Israeli man from behind, lightly wounding him, said police spokeswoman Luba Samri. The man drew his gun and fired, wounding her seriously. Both were taken to a hospital.

The attack took place near the site where a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli man to death and wounded his wife and toddler on Saturday, according to Israel’s Channel 2 TV.The unprecedented measure imposed on Sunday barring Palestinians who did not live in the Old City from entering was lifted on Tuesday evening “following security assessments” .

The ban did not apply to Palestinians who live, work and study within the Old City, or Israelis or tourists.

Israel has beefed up its forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank since the current unrest began about three weeks ago. Mr Netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to do more.

Four Israelis were killed last week in shooting and stabbing attacks in Jerusalem and the West Bank, while Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, amid violent protests.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been hurt in several days of clashes, according to the Red Crescent medical service, including dozens struck by rubber bullets and some by live fire. Most of the wounded were treated for tear gas inhalation.

Another measure banning men under the age of 50 from entering the Al Aqsa mosque compound for prayers was also lifted. Israel has imposed the ban at times of unrest in the past as it is mostly young Palestinian men who take part in the violence.

The hilltop compound has been at the heart of the recent tensions. It is revered by Muslims as the place where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the two Jewish biblical Temples.

Many Palestinians believe that Israel is trying to expand a Jewish presence at the site. There have been several days of clashes at the site over the past few weeks as Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al Aqsa mosque, reportedly hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at police.

The unrest later spread to Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and on Tuesday there were disturbances in Jaffa, a largely Arab area of Tel Aviv.On Wednesday, the violence appeared to spread south.

Mr Abbas, fed up with years of diplomatic paralysis and unpopular with his public, does not want to appear to be caving in to Israeli pressure. But on Tuesday he called for calm and said his people had no interest in further escalation.

Mr Netanyahu has warned he will use a “strong hand” to quell the violence.

Earlier, a relative of one of five Palestinians arrested by Israel over the killing of an Israeli couple in the West Bank said troops took measurements of their homes in an apparent prelude to demolishing them. Ayman Masri, whose nephew was among those arrested, said Israeli troops raided five homes in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday. Palestinian official Qadura Fares said another five were raided elsewhere.

On Tuesday Israel demolished homes that belonged to the families of a man who killed four worshippers and a police officer in a Jerusalem synagogue last year, and a second attacker who killed one person when he rammed a bulldozer into traffic. Both men were shot dead following the attacks. Israel says it carries out such demolitions to deter future attacks.

* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse