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By William Booth and Ruth Eglash November 10 at 3:04 PM
JERUSALEM — An Israeli woman waiting at a bus stop near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and an Israeli soldier in downtown Tel Aviv were killed on Monday in two separate attacks by knife-wielding Palestinian men.
Israeli authorities described both assaults as terrorist attacks. The incidents follow months of violent confrontation between rock-throwing Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its religious sites.
More violent demonstrations broke out in northern Israel over the weekend after Israeli police shot and killed an Arab Israeli who had slashed at a police car with a knife. A video of that shooting has inflamed both Palestinians and Israelis.
The knife attacks Monday add to growing unease among Israelis that security for ordinary citizens is threatened. Palestinians, too, complain of heavy-handed police operations in Jerusalem that have restricted their movements and led to mass arrests of young people.
The rising number of attacks have led some Israelis to declare the Palestinians on the verge of a third uprising, or intifada.
Military and police officials, however, say the deadly attacks are mostly perpetrated by lone assailants with loose ties to terrorist groups. The rock-throwing youth are even less organized.
“Right now it is more of a mini-intifada,” said Shaul Bartal, an expert on the Palestinian militant group Hamas who lectures at the Israeli military academy. “Any little thing that happens now could burn the area.”
In the last month in Jerusalem, Palestinian drivers in two separate hit-and-run attacks intentionally plowed their cars into crowded tramway stations, killing four people.
In another case that inflamed passions on both sides, a Palestinian man attempted to assassinate a prominent and provocative Israeli activist who wants Jews to be allowed to pray on the raised esplanade known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, a holy site to both religions. The activist survived the attack; his assailant died in a gun battle with police.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to stop the violence. His government has announced plans to increase penalties for rock throwing and to demolish the family homes of Arab Israelis and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem who are involved in attacks — a tactic until now used only in the West Bank.
Netanyahu said the attacks were motivated by hatred of Jews and Israel. “The terrorists and those who incite them want to get rid of us wherever we are. As far as they're concerned, we don't need to be in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or anywhere else," Netanyahu said.
The attack in Tel Aviv took place near a busy train station. An off-duty Israeli soldier in uniform in his early 20s was stabbed multiple times. Passersby told Israel Radio that he chased the assailant, shouting “terrorist!” The suspect, from a Palestinian refugee camp in Nablus in the West Bank, was taken into custody after fleeing to a nearby building. Authorities said he had entered Israel illegally.
Later in the afternoon, three Israelis were stabbed, one fatally, by a Palestinian man at a busy West Bank intersection near the Israeli settlement of Alon Shvut.
Israeli intelligence officers identified the attacker as Maher Hamdi Shalmon, 30, a resident of Hebron affiliated with Islamic Jihad, one of the groups that fought a 50-day war with Israel in Gaza this summer. The Israeli officials said he previously served five years in prison for throwing a fire bomb at Israeli troops.
According to Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the attacker drove his car close to the bus stop, crashing it into one of the concrete barriers placed there for security reasons. After smashing into the barrier, he began slashing at people with a knife, Rosenfeld said.
One of the victims was 25-year-old Dalia Lamkus, a resident of a neighboring settlement, who died from her wounds. Two others were taken to the hospital.
A security guard shot the alleged assailant, who was transferred from the scene to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
JERUSALEM — An Israeli woman waiting at a bus stop near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank and an Israeli soldier in downtown Tel Aviv were killed on Monday in two separate attacks by knife-wielding Palestinian men.
Israeli authorities described both assaults as terrorist attacks. The incidents follow months of violent confrontation between rock-throwing Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its religious sites.
More violent demonstrations broke out in northern Israel over the weekend after Israeli police shot and killed an Arab Israeli who had slashed at a police car with a knife. A video of that shooting has inflamed both Palestinians and Israelis.
The knife attacks Monday add to growing unease among Israelis that security for ordinary citizens is threatened. Palestinians, too, complain of heavy-handed police operations in Jerusalem that have restricted their movements and led to mass arrests of young people.
The rising number of attacks have led some Israelis to declare the Palestinians on the verge of a third uprising, or intifada.
Military and police officials, however, say the deadly attacks are mostly perpetrated by lone assailants with loose ties to terrorist groups. The rock-throwing youth are even less organized.
“Right now it is more of a mini-intifada,” said Shaul Bartal, an expert on the Palestinian militant group Hamas who lectures at the Israeli military academy. “Any little thing that happens now could burn the area.”
In the last month in Jerusalem, Palestinian drivers in two separate hit-and-run attacks intentionally plowed their cars into crowded tramway stations, killing four people.
In another case that inflamed passions on both sides, a Palestinian man attempted to assassinate a prominent and provocative Israeli activist who wants Jews to be allowed to pray on the raised esplanade known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, a holy site to both religions. The activist survived the attack; his assailant died in a gun battle with police.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to stop the violence. His government has announced plans to increase penalties for rock throwing and to demolish the family homes of Arab Israelis and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem who are involved in attacks — a tactic until now used only in the West Bank.
Netanyahu said the attacks were motivated by hatred of Jews and Israel. “The terrorists and those who incite them want to get rid of us wherever we are. As far as they're concerned, we don't need to be in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or anywhere else," Netanyahu said.
The attack in Tel Aviv took place near a busy train station. An off-duty Israeli soldier in uniform in his early 20s was stabbed multiple times. Passersby told Israel Radio that he chased the assailant, shouting “terrorist!” The suspect, from a Palestinian refugee camp in Nablus in the West Bank, was taken into custody after fleeing to a nearby building. Authorities said he had entered Israel illegally.
Later in the afternoon, three Israelis were stabbed, one fatally, by a Palestinian man at a busy West Bank intersection near the Israeli settlement of Alon Shvut.
Israeli intelligence officers identified the attacker as Maher Hamdi Shalmon, 30, a resident of Hebron affiliated with Islamic Jihad, one of the groups that fought a 50-day war with Israel in Gaza this summer. The Israeli officials said he previously served five years in prison for throwing a fire bomb at Israeli troops.
According to Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, the attacker drove his car close to the bus stop, crashing it into one of the concrete barriers placed there for security reasons. After smashing into the barrier, he began slashing at people with a knife, Rosenfeld said.
One of the victims was 25-year-old Dalia Lamkus, a resident of a neighboring settlement, who died from her wounds. Two others were taken to the hospital.
A security guard shot the alleged assailant, who was transferred from the scene to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
