Israel bans Palestinians from entering Jerusalem Old City after stabbing incident

TEL AVIV — Israel restricted Palestinian access to the Old City of Jerusalem after a Palestinian man fatally stabbed two Israelis.

For the next two days, entrance will be limited to Israeli citizens, tourists and those who live, work or study in the Old City, according to an e-mail today (Oct 4) from the police spokesman’s office.

Israel for security reasons often restricts Muslim access to Jerusalem’s holy site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Arabs asal-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. The site in east Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, has been a flashpoint for unrest in the past month.

Israel annexed the area in a move never internationally recognised and Palestinians seek the area as the capital of a state.

A Palestinian from the West Bank stabbed two Israeli men to death in the Old City yesterday.He was shot and killed by police arriving on the scene. The city’s mayor Nir Barkat called the violence a “direct result” of Palestinian incitement.

Israel may have to consider a military operation to deal with rising violence that is primarily focused on Jerusalem, Israel’s minister of intelligence and atomic energy, Mr Yisrael Katz, told Army Radio.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has been on the rise since mid-September. Last week gunmen fired on a car in the West Bank, killing a Jewish settler and his wife. The Palestinian Authority has blamed the escalation on the continued Israeli occupation of territories Palestinians want as part of their future state. BLOOMBERG