Palestinian knifeman wounds two Israeli police officers

Jerusalem on lock-down as police search for suspect. Israeli army also shoots man it says trying to cross into Israel from Gaza.

MENA

2 min read

Agencies

26 December, 2014

Israel has put Old City on lock-down as it searches for suspect in stabbing (Getty)

A knife-wielding Palestinian wounded two Israeli police officers on Friday in Jerusalem's Old City, the scene of months of tensions, authorities said.

One officer was wounded in the neck and the other in the hand, according to a police spokeswoman who described their injuries as light.

Police launched a major search in the Old City and surrounding areas for the attacker, who fled, she said.

Occupied east Jerusalem, including the Old City, has been shaken by frequent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in recent months, as well as a series of "lone wolf" attacks.

The incident happened near the Lions Gate, which opens into the Old City’s Christian Quarter. The suspect fled the area. Checkpoints were set up in the Old City and nearby areas following the attack.

The Ramallah-based web site Paldf released a video of what it said was the incident.

Caution: contains graphic footage.

More Gaza violence

Israeli soldiers, meanwhile, shot a man as he tried to cross into Israel from northern Gaza, Israel's army said Friday.

An Israeli army spokeswoman told the Palestinian Maan news agency that two Palestinians approached the "security fence” in the northern Gaza Strip with the intention of crossing into Israel.

Israeli soldiers ordered them to stop and fired in the air and then at their legs when they failed to comply.

One man was hit, while both were detained at the scene and taken for questioning.

The incident comes just a few days after the Israeli army killed a Hamas member with what Palestinian hospital sources said appeared to be a tank shell.

Tensions in and around Gaza have risen in recent weeks. Saturday witnessed the first Israeli airstrike on the strip since a truce was signed in August after a 51-day Israeli assault there left over 2,200 Palestinians dead.

The international community has so far failed to make good on multi-billion dollar pledges to rebuild the devastated strip of land.