BICOM

A Palestinian man has stabbed a group of policemen in Jerusalem’s Old City, wounding two and  injuring a passer-by.

The incident took place yesterday afternoon at the Lions Gate, in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. Jerusalem Police said that the attacker, named as 21-year-old Khamad Khadr Ashikh from Beit Surik, north-west of Jerusalem, arrived on the scene via the Damascus Gate and approached a group of police officers.

He used a screwdriver to stab one of the officers in the head, also injuring another policeman. Officers immediately opened fire, seriously wounding Ashikh, who was treated on the scene and taken to hospital where he later died.

The wounded policemen suffered light injuries and one was taken to hospital. A 14-year-old Arab resident from East Jerusalem was also treated at the scene for apparent head trauma, having also been attacked. Following the incident, Israel Police temporarily closed all entrances to the Muslim Quarter and most of the shops on the main thoroughfare.

Yesterday evening, a gunman opened fire on an Israeli car near Ramallah in the West Bank which was being driven by an Israeli woman. Her children were in the vehicle. Pictures released by the police showed multiple bullet holes in the car, but nobody was injured. The IDF launched a search for the attacker, who fled the scene.

The incidents come after  a woman in her thirties from East Jerusalem attempted to ram her car into Israeli police manning the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah earlier this week. Police fired into the air as she sped towards them. The woman then exited the car brandishing a knife, but was quickly overpowered by security forces and arrested.

A wave of Palestinian attacks has killed at least 42 people since October 2015. However, the number of attacks has slowed during the past six months and have become concentrated mainly in Jerusalem and the West Bank.