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Palestinian Deaths As Violence Continues

Palestinian Deaths As Violence Continues

Confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli troops are on-going in Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as fears grow that the recent spate of violence could spill over after Hamas' leader in Gaza declared the violence to be a new "intifada".

Early on Saturday morning Israeli police confirmed two Israelis had been injured following an attempted stabbing outside the Old City of Jerusalem. The suspected attacker was shot dead at the scene.

Overnight sirens sounded in southern Israel as two rockets were fired from the Gaza strip, landing in open ground. No injuries were reported.

The rockets followed the deaths of seven Palestinians, killed by Israeli soldiers as around a thousand Gazans demonstrated along the enclave’s border fence on Friday in solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank.

On Friday night Israeli police also confirmed they had shot a 25 year-old man in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, claiming he had opened fire on officers amid a crowd throwing rocks and petrol bombs.

The man later died in hospital. The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip, has claimed he was one of its members.

The recent surge in violence has been building momentum for more than a week, resulting in a mass deployment of Israeli forces at flashpoints across Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Four Israelis have been killed in shooting or near-daily stabbing attacks, and at least 10 others have been wounded.

Sixteen Palestinians have been killed, including a number who were shot dead by police as presumed perpetrators of attacks against Israelis.

Anger has been building for several months over the Al Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Palestinians fear the long-standing 'status quo' arrangement - which leaves the administration in the hands of mosque’s Islamic clerics and allows non-Muslims to visit the site, but not pray - is being eroded.

They point to an increase in visits by hard-line Jewish groups, who demand the right to pray at the site and advocate the construction of a new Jewish temple within the compound.

Known to Muslims as the Haram al Sharif, it is the third holiest site in Islam, while for Jews it is the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism.

Clashes have taken place at the site itself in recent weeks as Israeli police barred entry to Islamic groups it accused of planning violent attacks and hiding petrol bombs inside the compound.

The Israeli government have repeatedly vowed they have no intentions of changing the rules governing access to the site, and say Palestinian claims to the contrary amount to incitement to violence.

In the wake of the recent escalation, Israel’s Prime Minister and the Palestinian President have both made calls for calm, and security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli forces remains in place.

However, during Friday prayers Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas in Gaza, declared the recent violence to be a new 'intifada' (uprising), saying it was a justified response to the Israeli occupation and "crimes against Al Aqsa".