JERUSALEM (AP) – Palestinian attackers shot dead a security guard at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank late Friday, the Israeli military said, in a fresh attack that could further fuel Israeli-Palestinian tensions over the past two months.
The Israeli military said early Saturday that the attackers arrived at the entrance to the Ariel settlement and shot dead the security guard at his post before fleeing the scene. The military launched a pursuit of the suspects in the West Bank.
In another incident, Israeli forces shot dead a 27-year-old Palestinian man during clashes in the village of Azoun near the city of Qalqilya early on Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
A spate of Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank over the past two months has claimed the lives of 14 Israelis.
Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, praised the attack but denied claiming responsibility.
“The operation proves that the revolution is raging across the West Bank,” spokesman Hazem Qassem said. “This is a practical implementation of our people’s declaration that Jerusalem is a red line.”
Tensions at a major holy site in Jerusalem rose this month as Palestinian worshipers clashed daily with Israeli police. The site contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, and increasing numbers of Palestinians go there to pray during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Earlier on Friday, Palestinians threw stones and Israeli police fired rubber-coated bullets at the site, which has seen a spate of unrest in recent weeks.
Police say Palestinians on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque began hurling rocks and firecrackers toward a heavily guarded gate leading to the Western Wall, the holiest place for Jews to pray, around dawn. The police advanced into the compound and fired rubberized bullets.
The violence ended about an hour later after other Palestinians at the site intervened and convinced the stone-throwers and police to retreat.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance Service said more than 40 people were injured, with 22 requiring treatment at local hospitals. It said Israeli forces prevented first responders from entering the compound during the clashes and one of his medics was beaten by police.
Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said in a statement they had arrested three people.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was built on a hill that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the site of the Jewish temples in ancient times. It has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
There have been several clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians there in recent weeks. Israeli authorities accuse Hamas of inciting violence and say security forces were forced to intervene to stop the stone-throwing.
The Palestinians say the presence of Israeli police at the compound and regular visits by growing numbers of nationalist and religious Jews are in violation of decades of informal agreements that govern the compound. Visits were suspended last week for the final 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends this weekend.