2 Israeli police officers injured in stabbing attack in East Jerusalem

Israeli police said a Palestinian man stabbed and injured two police officers in Jerusalem before he was shot and critically wounded on Monday morning.

The incident took place near the Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem's Old City amidst a resurgence in Palestinian unrest.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri identified the stabber as a Palestinian in his twenties, a resident of the Ras al-Amud neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

"He noticed the two police officers and followed their steps," Samri said. "When he reached close to them, he pulled out a knife and stabbed them several times in their upper body," she said.

One of the officers, a 47-year-old policeman, then shot the stabber and "neutralized" him, according to Samri.

Another officer, a policewoman, sustained serious injuries, according to Israel medical emergency teams.

Israeli authorities said the incident was the sixth attack against Israelis since Friday. It came after almost a month-long lull in Palestinian attacks.

The resurgence of violence started on Friday, when Israeli police shot and killed a Jordanian citizen after he allegedly tried to stab police officers outside East Jerusalem's Old City, according to the police.

A spokesman for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, Sabah Rafi, refuted the Israeli narrative, saying the victim was with a group of tourists from Jordan.

"The Jordanian government is following up the case to look into all details and to hand over the body of the martyr to his family in preparation to take international legal and diplomatic procedures," Rafi said.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the parliament speaker to act to prevent lawmakers and government ministers from going up to the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem ahead of the Jewish high holidays next week.

Violence since mid-September has claimed the lives of at least 230 Palestinians and 34 Israelis. Israel says that most of the Palestinians were killed amidst stabbing, car-ramming, and shooting attacks.

The Palestinians and human rights organizations say that Israel is using excessive force to quell the uprising, and in many cases kill Palestinians who could be stopped without using lethal force or were mistaken to be attackers.

Israeli leaders accuse the Palestinian National Authority of "inciting" the unrest, while the Palestinians say it is the result of 49 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, home to more than 5 million Palestinians, where they wish to establish their state.

Source : XINHUA