Palestinian Stabs 2 Israeli Soldiers and Is Killed
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/world/middleeast/palestinian-israeli-soldiers-attack.html Version 0 of 1. JERUSALEM — A Palestinian man stabbed two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank on Wednesday, seriously injuring one and lightly wounding the other, before being shot to death by security forces at the scene, according to the Israeli military. The attack took place on a main route north of Ramallah, near the Palestinian village of Sinjil and the Jewish settlement of Maale Levona. Coming during the intermediate days of Passover, when many Israelis are on vacation, it broke several weeks of relative calm that had followed a spate of attacks against Israelis in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank by lone Palestinians using knives, guns and vehicles as weapons. The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, identified the Palestinian assailant who was killed on Wednesday as Muhammad Jaser Karakara, 27, from Sinjil. Israeli security officials have said that the recent wave of attacks appeared mostly random and spontaneous, carried out by individuals acting without clear instructions or backing from Palestinian militant organizations. But Israeli leaders have blamed the Palestinian leadership for creating what Israel says is an atmosphere of incitement to violence. They particularly cite the Palestinians’ decision to join the International Criminal Court and threats to press cases against Israelis for war crimes during last summer’s fighting in Gaza and over Israeli settlement activity. Israel has eased some restrictions on the movement of Palestinians lately to try to improve the atmosphere and to provide some relief from economic hardship, according to military officials. But an Israeli general who recently finished his three-year tour as the senior commander in the West Bank has warned that the continuing tensions between the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships could undermine stability. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu worked to form a new government after his party won the parliamentary election in March, right-wing politicians in Israel were quick to condemn the attack on Wednesday. “I support the defense forces who killed the terrorist,” Naftali Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party, said in a statement. “This must be the fate of anyone who harms innocent Jews,” he added. |