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Israeli soldiers in East Jerusalem, last week Photo by Emil Salman
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JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Two Israeli teenagers were allegedly stabbed and injured by a 19-year-old Palestinian inside the Old City of Jerusalem overnight Saturday, an Israeli police spokesman told Ma'an.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the stabbing took place late Saturday night as two Israeli boys aged 17 were making their way to the Western Wall.

The two sustained moderate wounds and were evacuated to Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Karem neighborhood.

Israeli police identified the suspected attacker using CCTV images, and arrested the 19-year-old Palestinian at his home.

Police reportedly found a knife believed to have been used in the attack in his home.

There have been a spate of attacks on Israeli military and civilians in recent months, largely in the wake of Israeli activities across the occupied Palestinian Territories, including last summer's offensive on Gaza which left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in the al-Tur neighborhood east of the Old City after he allegedly attempted to run over border guard officers with his vehicle, leaving two moderately injured.

In the six months to the end of February, the UN reported that 10 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks, while 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and settlers across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Thousands of Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces in the same period.
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by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Israeli sources have reported on Saturday at night that two Israeli teens were stabbed near the Damascus Gate, in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, and suffered moderate-but-stable injuries.

sraeli Jerusalem Post has reported that medics arrived on the and provided first aid to the two 17-year-old teens, before moving them to the Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital, in Jerusalem, suffering injuries to their upper bodies. The newspaper also reported that the two were on their way to a study session at the Western Wall, marking the Shavuot Jewish holiday.

The Israeli Police said they arrested a 19-year-old Palestinian teen from his home in the Old City of Jerusalem and moved him to an interrogation center; the police said the teen “was caught on a surveillance camera,” but did not provide any further information.

On Wednesday, May 20, Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man after he allegedly rammed two officers with his vehicle.

His family denied the Israeli allegations, and said he is a father of five children (Rasha 14, Hamza 11, Raghad, 9, Hala, 6, and Mohammad, only 14 months of age); and he was planning to take his family on a trip to Turkey, but the accident with the officers landed him in prison with a potential life sentence.
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By Nir Hasson for Haaretz

Two Jewish youths were stabbed by a knife-wielding assailant in Jerusalem’s Old City late Saturday night and hospitalized with light to moderate wounds. The suspect, a Palestinian man, fled the scene but was later apprehended by security services at his East Jerusalem home.

The two youths, aged 15 and 18, were attacked near the Damascus Gate while heading for the Western Wall. Security services commenced a large-scale sweep of the area in an attempt to locate the attacker.

A suspicious figure was identified in footage taken by security cameras in the area, and the suspect was arrested upon returning to his residence. A search conducted in the vicinity of his home revealed a knife and several other items linking him to the attack. The man was then taken for questioning.

This is not the first time a suspect has been apprehended after being filmed on security footage in the Old City, which is equipped with an extensive camera network.

The male victims were found on the scene, fully conscious, with multiple stab wounds to their torsos. A Magen David Adom paramedic team rushed them to Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem. The 18-year-old was stabbed in the back and lightly wounded. The 15-year-old was stabbed in the chest, suffering light to moderate wounds.

July 1 will mark the first anniversary of the brutal murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, an act that triggered a wave of violent uprisings in East Jerusalem. During the winter, it seemed as if the situation in the capital had stabilized and that the violence was abating, but the events of recent weeks have shown that any optimism was premature.

Saturday’s stabbing marks the fourth attack in two weeks on Israelis in the Jerusalem area. Last Wednesday, two police officers were lightly wounded after being rammed by a car in the A-Tur neighborhood, by the Mount of Olives. The assailant, a resident of Jabal Mukkaber, was shot and killed by one of the officers.

A week earlier, four youths were wounded, one of them seriously, when a car slammed into them at the entrance to the Alon Shvut settlement in the West Bank.

In the past six months, a total of 14 attacks have been carried out in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. The majority of them were carried out by “lone wolf” assailants, acting without organizational backing or prior planning – which makes it difficult for security services to thwart them. The police believe that at least some of the attacks were carried out spontaneously.

At the same time, there have been frequent protests and almost daily clashes between police and Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Last week, demonstrations were held in A-Tur, Jabal Mukkaber, Shoafat refugee camp and other places. Last Thursday, a 10-year-old boy from Shoafat was hit in the eye with a sponge-tipped bullet; it was reported over the weekend that the child will most likely lose the eye.

A video capturing the incident was circulating on social media, with the footage indicating that the child was not holding a rock, or actively participating in the stone-throwing that was occurring at the time.

Also Thursday, a group of some 20 Jewish youths attacked five Palestinian youths in central Jerusalem without provocation. Aviv Tatarsky, an activist from a Jerusalem group combating racism, witnessed the incident. “They were five up against about 20 Jews. The Jews came down on them, and one of the Palestinians took a serious blow to the head. Instinctively I began to scream ‘Police! Police!’ Immediately, the group of Jews ran off. I approached the Palestinians, two of whom were Canadian citizens who came to visit family from East Jerusalem. They were extremely frightened and asked me in English what the assailants wanted from them. I told them this is the situation here, and they need to find a way to get away,” said Tatarsky.

During the incident, Tatarsky attempted to attract the attention of two nearby Border Police officers, but he said they remained indifferent, and later checked the Palestinians’ documents. Jerusalem police said they were unaware of the incident.