Palestinian assailants shoot dead Israeli guard in West Bank

JERUSALEM — Palestinian assailants shot and killed a safety guard on the entrance of a Jewish settlement within the occupied West Financial institution late Friday, the Israeli army mentioned. The recent assault may additional gasoline Israeli-Palestinian tensions which have soared prior to now two months.

The Israeli army mentioned early Saturday that the attackers arrived on the Ariel settlement entrance and shot the guard in his put up earlier than fleeing the scene. The army launched a pursuit of the suspects within the West Financial institution.

In a separate incident, Israeli troops shot and killed a 27-year-old Palestinian man throughout clashes at Azoun village close to the city of Qalqilya early Saturday, the Palestinian Well being Ministry mentioned.

A string of Palestinian assaults in Israel and the West Financial institution over the previous two months have left 15 Israelis useless. Not less than 27 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli safety forces in current weeks.

Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, praised the assault however stopped wanting claiming accountability for it.

“The operation proves that revolution is raging everywhere in the West Financial institution,” mentioned spokesman Hazem Qassem. “This can be a sensible implementation of our folks’s declaration that Jerusalem is a purple line.”

Tensions elevated this month at a serious Jerusalem holy web site, with Palestinian worshippers clashing every day with Israeli police. The positioning incorporates Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest web site in Islam, and rising numbers of Palestinians go there to hope throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Earlier on Friday, Palestinians hurled stones and Israeli police fired rubber-coated bullets on the web site, which has seen a wave of unrest in current weeks.

The police say Palestinians contained in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound started hurling stones and fireworks round daybreak within the course of a closely guarded gate that results in the Western Wall, the holiest place the place Jews can pray. The police superior into the compound, firing rubber-coated bullets.

The violence ended round an hour later after different Palestinians within the compound intervened, convincing the stone throwers and the police to drag again.

The Palestinian Crimson Crescent emergency service mentioned greater than 40 folks had been wounded, with 22 requiring remedy at native hospitals. It mentioned Israeli forces prevented first responders from coming into the compound throughout the clashes, and that considered one of its medics was overwhelmed by police. The Israeli police mentioned they had been unfamiliar with the claims that they’d prevented medical employees from coming into the world, calling it a “distorted” model of occasions. Additionally they mentioned three folks had been arrested.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is constructed on a hilltop that’s the most sacred web site for Jews, who seek advice from it because the Temple Mount as a result of it was the situation of the Jewish temples in antiquity. It has lengthy been a flashpoint within the Israeli-Palestinian battle.

In current weeks, Israeli police and Palestinians have clashed there on a variety of events. Israeli authorities accuse Hamas of inciting violence and say safety forces had been compelled to intervene to halt stone-throwing.

The Palestinians say the presence of Israeli police on the web site, and common visits by rising numbers of nationalist and spiritual Jews, are a violation of decades-old casual preparations governing the location. The visits had been halted final week for the final 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which concludes this weekend.