At dusk Thursday evening nearly 200 right-wing Israelis took to the streets of Jerusalem, chanting racist anti-Arab epitaphs and nationalist songs. The march came at the end of day that saw Israeli forces kill two Palestinians and Palestinian attackers wound nine Israelis, including two soldiers, in four separate attacks, the highest number of serious injuries inflicted on Israelis in recent weeks. At the time of publication the right-wing group was marching from West Jerusalem into Palestinian East Jerusalem.
Tensions are expected to remain high into Friday evening, as Israel erected six new metal detectors across Jerusalem that will stop and check pedestrians. These are widely considered by Palestinians as additional checkpoints to prevent them from reaching al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayer.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already announced members of Knesset will be barred from entering the holy complex, following a statement from Arab officials in parliament that they intend to pray at the mosque tomorrow. This morning member of Knesset Jamal Zahalka and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah were both prevented from entering the religious grounds.
Hours earlier in the northern Israeli town of Afula a Palestinian stabbed a soldier and one other. The attacker was arrested.
In the afternoon three separate attacks took place in quick succession against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
In Kiryat Arba, a settlement near Hebron, a Palestinian attacked an Israeli settler and then fled from the scene. A manhunt is underway to apprehend him. In East Jerusalem near a light rail station 19-year old Subhi Abu Khalifa from East Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp, the only Palestinian refugee camp outside of the West Bank, stabbed two Israelis. After nightfall Israeli forces attempted to raid Khalifa’s home, but were met by fierce clashes from more than 1,000 residents who sought to prevent the soldiers from entering the densely populated camp. During the confrontation Israeli forces killed Wissam Faraj, 20, who was buried during the night hours after the killing. Nine Israeli soldiers were wounded in the clash.
In the West Bank, the Palestinian Minister of Communications and Information Technology was assaulted outside of Nablus by settlers Thursday morning.
Making his first public statement since a wave of violence swept across Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tonight again faulted the Palestinian Authority for inciting, “Hateful terrorists are trying to hurt our people.”
“We are in the midst of a wave of terrorism with knives, firebombs, rocks and even live fire. While these acts are mostly unorganized, they are all the result of wild and mendacious incitement by Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, several countries in the region and – no less and frequently much more – the Islamic Movement in Israel,” said Netanyahu who then avowed to continue harsh security measures and indicated he would not pursue further settlement construction for the time being, as it was costing him support from the international community.
Yet Palestinian leaders say it is Netanyahu who is fanning the flames, charging him with a severe crackdown that is escalation the violence.
“Israel continues its campaign of repression and collective punishment agains the Palestinian people under its occupation,” Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations said in a searing letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon. Mansour went on to state Israeli forces assaulted 27 Palestinian medical teams and targeted 10 ambulances while they assisted injured protesters in now daily demonstrations in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Palestinians have also charged Israel with violating international law by raiding ambulances and stopping the emergency responders in order to log the identification of Palestinians wounded by the Israeli military.
“Israeli occupation forces stopped an ambulance for 40 minutes on 6 Oct at Anata near Jerusalem while en route to transport a severely bleeding injured to the hospital. Also, a soldier checked the IDs of the injured and took a photo of the injured,” said Erab al-Fuqaha on Facebook, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Cresent Society. “The emblem of the crescent should be respected and protected at all times particularly war time,” al-Fuqaha added.
Since October 3rd, Israeli forces injured more than 1,500 Palestinians in protests in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and more than 70 with live-fire, according to al-Fuqaha.
Over the past week, Palestinians killed four Israelis in the West Bank and Jerusalem and Israeli forces have killed seven Palestinians.
“Hateful terrorists are trying to hurt our people”. Was he suppressing sobs or dabbing his eyes with his kippah when he said that ? Poor old Nitay – the withdrawal symptoms are really kicking in. Didn`t get the Americans to bomb Iran for him and now he is behaving like a spoilt child who is soooo used to getting his way that he just can`t cope with being told “no”. He has tried the De Niro stare at the UN , now the Cowardly Lion. Looking forward to his next cameo role.
Hey, Bibi, what do you have to say about your regime and by Zio-supremacists around the world who have been inciting terrorism – and oppression, colonialism and supremacism – in Palestine and against Palestinians for almost 70 years?
Hey, Bibi, what about the raging torrents of Zio-supremacist terrorism – and oppression, colonialism and supremacism – with high-tech military weaponry and banned munitions? They are well-funded and -organized and are the result of wild and mendacious incitement by your regime and by Zio-supremacists around the world. Got anything to say about that?