Palestinian Territories on Brink of Third Intifada

RAMALLAH (Dispatches) -- Fresh clashes erupted Monday in the West Bank and the occupying regime of Israel's military shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian boy after hardline PM Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a crackdown on the uprising.

Date: 05 October 2015 - 21:41

News ID: ۱۹۱۳۹

The spike in violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Al-Quds has led to international calls for calm, with concerns the unrest could spin out of control and memories of previous Palestinian uprisings still fresh.
As part of the crackdown, the Old City in Al-Quds remained closed to Palestinians for a second straight day.
On Monday afternoon, the Zionist army shot dead the 13-year-old Palestinian during clashes at a refugee camp near Bethlehem.
The teen was hit in the chest, making him the second Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in 24 hours, but further details of the incident were unclear.
On Sunday night, an 18-year-old Palestinian was killed during clashes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. Dozens of others have been wounded.
"He is not the first martyr, nor will he be the last, but he died for his homeland," his father Othman Suleiman told AFP at his son's funeral on Monday, attended by hundreds.
Palestinian youths throwing stones and firebombs have faced off against Zionist forces using both live rounds and rubber bullets. Settlers have also clashed with Palestinians.
The rioting has followed three attacks in recent days that have killed four Zionists and wounded several others.
Late Sunday, Netanyahu pledged "a fight to the death” against Palestinians after meeting military chiefs immediately following his return from the United States.
Netanyahu, facing pressure from right-wing members of his governing coalition to respond forcefully, announced a package of new measures "punish the attackers".
They included swifter demolition of the homes of those accused of attacks, broader use of detention without trial for suspects, and police and troop reinforcements for Jerusalem Al-Quds and the West Bank.
He also spoke of using restraining orders to keep "inciters" away from the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the site of repeated clashes in recent weeks.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said in a UN speech last week that he was no longer bound by previous accords with Israel, accused the Zionist regime of escalating tensions.
It was not clear what Abbas's UN declaration would mean in practice, including whether he would act to end security cooperation with the occupying regime of Israel.
In a rare and drastic move, the Israeli regime barred Palestinians from the Old City on Sunday as violence spread after two Zionists were stabbed to death. The neighborhood remained mainly quiet early Monday, with hundreds of police on patrol.
The Old City restrictions were to be in place through Monday, when Jews wrap up celebrations of the eight-day Sukkot holiday. Only Zionists, tourists, residents of the area, business owners and students were allowed in.
Worship at the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been limited to men aged 50 and above. There were no age restrictions on women.
Around 300,000 Palestinians live in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds, where the Old City is located.
Esraa Hajajra, 19, was among several Muslims protesting at one gate over limited access to the Al-Aqsa compound.
"This is our mosque, but they want to take it and pray there," she said, referring to suspicions among Palestinians that Israel will seek to change rules governing the compound.
Zionist forces were already on alert after recent clashes at the compound and surrounding Old City, as well as the murder in the West Bank of a Zionist settler couple on Thursday.
On Saturday night, a 19-year-old Palestinian said to be a militant killed two Israelis in the Old City.
In a separate incident early Sunday, a 19-year-old Palestinian stabbed and wounded a passerby in west Jerusalem Al-Quds before being shot dead by police while fleeing.
Video circulated on social media showed what appeared to be the alleged attacker walking as bystanders shouted "shoot him" in Hebrew before a policeman fired and he fell to the ground.