BICOM

Israeli security forces were involved in serious clashes with locals near Ramallah yesterday, while a Palestinian woman was arrested in possession of two knives at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem.

Yesterday morning, Israeli troops entered Al-Amari near Ramallah in order to arrest two members of the Tanzim militia, affiliated to the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. However, they were confronted by around 100 locals who hurled rocks and explosive devices at them, prompting the deployment of riot control equipment. However, when the violence continued, the IDF soldiers also used live ammunition. Around two dozen Palestinian protestors were reported to have been injured, as was one Israeli soldier. Israel Radio reported that five Palestinians were wounded from live fire.

Also yesterday, a Palestinian woman was apprehended at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City with the apparent intention of carrying out a knife attack. A police spokesperson said, “The security forces spotted the young Arab woman next to the Damascus Gate and she aroused suspicion.” Asked to remove her hands from her pockets, she brandished a knife and was quickly overpowered and was found to also be in possession of an additional knife. On Sunday evening, two Palestinians opened fire at Israeli border police at the Damascus Gate. Amr Amru and Mansur Shwamra, both 20-years-old from Dura were killed in the ensuing gun battle. Amru was a member of the PA security forces. Earlier this month at the same location, 19-year-old border policewoman Hadar Cohen was killed in an exchange of fire with three armed terrorists.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Shin Bet security service yesterday released statistics on the wave of near-daily attacks on Israelis since the start of October. In total, during this period, there have been 228 terrorist attacks or attempted attacks. 37 per cent of the attackers were aged 16 to 20, with a further 10 per cent even younger, while 11 per cent of the assailants were women.