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Jerusalem remains on high alert after stabbing

[ssba]

Jerusalem remains on high alert following a stabbing attack in the city on Friday night in which a border policewoman was killed.

Three Palestinian residents of the West Bank who were armed with knives and a submachine gun attacked Israeli Border Police troops in two locations outside the Old City of Jerusalem, killing Border Policewoman First Sgt. Hadar Malka, 23, and injuring another border policeman and two civilians. All three attackers were shot dead by Border Police troops at the scene.

They were later identified as Raa Ibrahim Mohammed Salah and Osama Ahmed Mustafa Atta, both aged 19, and Adel Hassan Ahmed Ankush, aged 18. assailants were residents of Deir Abu Mashal, which is west of the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

The spokesperson for Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement that Fatah “condemns the war crime carried out by Israeli occupation forces in Jerusalem against three Palestinian teens”.

Israeli police say that a much worse terror attack was averted thanks to a jam in the gun and the swift response by the police and the border police troops.

Following the attack the IDF clamped a closure on the attackers’ hometown. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also decided to rescind Palestinians’ entry permits into Israel for family visits, which had been relaxed for the month of Ramadan. Muslim worshipers will continue to be able to pray at the Temple Mount.

Netanyahu has further instructed security forces to consider restricting access to the area of Damascus Gate. However, Israel Radio reports that police officials said that implementing the proposal to place inspection positions around Damascus Gate and turning it into a restricted-access area was operationally unfeasible.

Although in recent months the frequency of attacks has slowed, and so far, 2017 has been quieter than the previous year, 43 Israelis, two visiting Americans, an Eritrean national, a Palestinian man and a British student have been killed by stabbings, shootings and car rammings in a wave of Palestinian terror attacks since October 2015.