In a sign of tensions, a Palestinian rammed his car into pedestrians in Jerusalem’s city centre on Wednesday, killing an Israeli paramilitary border policeman before he was shot dead by police. More than a dozen people were injured.
In a second attack later, a van driven by a Palestinian hit three soldiers in the occupied West Bank. One was seriously injured and two others suffered moderate wounds, an Israeli ambulance service spokesman and police said.
Security camera footage showed the large van plough into the three soldiers at speed. Police said the van escaped the scene and a search had been mounted.
The earlier car attack in Jerusalem occurred after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the entrance to the 8th-century al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third most sacred place.
Palestinian officials said Israeli forces had crossed the threshold of the mosque for the first time since 1967. Israeli police denied going into the house of worship.
Just as Israel was grappling with the second deadly Palestinian attack in Jerusalem in two weeks and the risk of a third Palestinian uprising, Jordan added a new dimension to the conflict by recalling its envoy.
Speaking in Paris as he prepared to meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Amman withdrew its ambassador because of the situation at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
‘We have sent repeated messages to Israel directly and indirectly that Jerusalem is a red line,’ Judeh said. He accused the Israelis of violations and incursions, stopping people from worshipping freely and allowing extremists to enter. ‘These violations are infuriating’ to Muslims worldwide, he added.
In a second attack later, a van driven by a Palestinian hit three soldiers in the occupied West Bank. One was seriously injured and two others suffered moderate wounds, an Israeli ambulance service spokesman and police said.
Security camera footage showed the large van plough into the three soldiers at speed. Police said the van escaped the scene and a search had been mounted.
The earlier car attack in Jerusalem occurred after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the entrance to the 8th-century al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third most sacred place.
Palestinian officials said Israeli forces had crossed the threshold of the mosque for the first time since 1967. Israeli police denied going into the house of worship.
Just as Israel was grappling with the second deadly Palestinian attack in Jerusalem in two weeks and the risk of a third Palestinian uprising, Jordan added a new dimension to the conflict by recalling its envoy.
Speaking in Paris as he prepared to meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Amman withdrew its ambassador because of the situation at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.
‘We have sent repeated messages to Israel directly and indirectly that Jerusalem is a red line,’ Judeh said. He accused the Israelis of violations and incursions, stopping people from worshipping freely and allowing extremists to enter. ‘These violations are infuriating’ to Muslims worldwide, he added.