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Hamas cell arrested as deadly West Bank, Jerusalem violence intensifies
Four Israelis and two Palestinians have been killed during the past several days as the recent low-level violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem has turned into a series of deadly attacks and incidents.
Last Thursday, an Israeli mother and father in their 30s, Eitam and Na’ama Henkin, were gunned down and killed in front of four of their children as they drove in the West Bank. A cell of five Hamas members suspected of carrying out the attack was arrested yesterday during an IDF undercover operation in Nablus.
On Saturday, two separate stabbings in Jerusalem’s Old City saw Palestinian assailants kill two Israelis. In the first incident, 21-year-old Aharon Bennett and 41-year-old Nehamia Lavi were murdered near the Damascus Gate as they walked to pray at the Western Wall. Bennett’s wife and two-year-old son were also injured in the attack. The assailant was shot dead by police. Just 12 hours later, a 15-year-old Israeli was stabbed and injured. His attacker was also shot dead at the scene.
The deadly attacks come against the backdrop of several weeks of tension in the West Bank and Jerusalem, especially on the Temple Mount where Palestinians throwing rocks and firebombs have clashed with Israeli forces on a number of occasions. Meanwhile, projectiles have been routinely hurled at Israeli civilians and several Israeli servicemen have been stabbed. Israeli leaders have pointed the finger at Palestinian Authority leaders for stoking the violence with incendiary rhetoric.
Speaking before a security cabinet meeting last night, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that, “Just as we defeated previous waves of terrorism, we will defeat this one, as well.” Among the measures being taken, Netanyahu said that the homes of terrorists would be destroyed and restrictions were placed on Palestinian access to Jerusalem’s Old City.
Meanwhile, IDF forces clashed with Palestinian protestors in 64 separate incidents in the West Bank yesterday. 13-year-old Abdel-Rahman Abeidallah was killed near Bethlehem and another Palestinian teenager was reportedly shot dead in Tulkarm.