JERUSALEM -- A wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence showed no signs of abating Sunday as three Palestinians, including a 2-year-old and a 13-year-old, were killed by Israeli forces, and four Israelis were wounded in an evening stabbing attack.
In response to the violence, Israel approved harsher measures meant to quell the surge in Arab shooting and stabbing attacks. Polls show widespread public dissatisfaction with the government's handling of the mounting violence.
The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved minimum sentences of four years in prison for people convicted of throwing stones or firebombs, and the fining of parents of minors convicted of security offenses. The government has already relaxed rules governing the use of live ammunition by security forces, and expedited the demolition of homes of Palestinians convicted of terrorist offenses.
"We are doing this as an emergency measure and will consider the extent of its implementation; if need be, we will make the law more severe," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Cabinet meeting. The measure would have to be approved by parliament and may face a challenge in Israel's highest court.
The attacks have been primarily stabbings and shootings, but a Palestinian woman seriously injured herself when she detonated a gas canister Sunday. The attack, which lightly wounded a police officer, was the first in the current round of violence to involve an explosive device.
The unrest broke out last month around the Jewish New Year, with clashes beginning at a contested holy site in Jerusalem and quickly spreading to other parts of the city, across Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza Strip. At least 24 Palestinians, including eight attackers, have been killed by Israeli forces, while five Israelis have been killed in attacks.
With random stabbings happening each day, the violence has Israelis on edge. Officials have called on citizens to carry guns in public for self-defense, and store owners say sales of guns and pepper spray are soaring.
"I think everyone should come and get a gun license," said Idan Albilia, a Jerusalem resident who was at a gun shop purchasing his first weapon. "We need to defend ourselves. I think this is the only thing that will help us in this situation."
Police are on high alert in all major cities across Israel, and an Israeli ambulance drove through central Jerusalem on Sunday night and announced an emergency blood drive over a loudspeaker.
Netanyahu said the country was battling a "wave of terror" fueled by "systematic, untrue incitement" by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Islamic Movement in Israel.
He said he would be holding consultations to discuss sanctions against the Islamic Movement, which has led a campaign accusing Israel of plotting to take over the Jerusalem compound revered by both Jews and Muslims. Israel denies the accusations.
During a briefing to the Cabinet, Israel's Shin Bet security agency said the Islamic Movement was a main instigator of the rumors. It also said the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, is not encouraging attacks on Israelis and has even instructed his security services to prevent violence, though it said other Palestinian officials were participating in incitement.
In response to renewed rocket fire toward Israel overnight, the military said it carried out airstrikes in Gaza targeting weapons manufacturing facilities belonging to the ruling Hamas militant group. The Palestinian Health Ministry said a home in southern Gaza was struck, killing a 30-year-old pregnant woman and her 2-year-old daughter. Four other Palestinians were wounded, including her husband and son.
The West Bank has been increasingly tense, with near-daily violent demonstrations. Ahmad Saraka, 13, was shot dead during a clash between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli troops near a military checkpoint, according to Ramallah Government Hospital Director Ahmed Bitawi. The Israeli military said it was responding to Palestinian demonstrators who had blocked roads and thrown rocks and firebombs at forces.
In another clash in the West Bank, at least 45 Palestinians were wounded by bullets, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said hundreds of Palestinians rolled burning tires and threw rocks at forces, who responded with .22-caliber rounds.
In Gaza, Palestinians again demonstrated along the Israeli border fence, throwing rocks and rolling burning tires. The Israeli military said soldiers responded by firing warning shots, and the Gaza Health Ministry said four Palestinians were wounded.
Late Sunday, an Arab citizen of Israel stabbed four Israelis near the northern city of Hadera, seriously injuring a 19-year-old girl, before Israeli police apprehended him, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
Earlier in the day, on a West Bank highway near Jerusalem, police ordered a woman to pull over after she was seen trailing a police vehicle. When an officer approached her car, she chanted "God is greatest" and detonated the gas canister, Israel's Shin Bet security agency said. Police found handwritten letters on her praising Palestinian "martyrs," and more gas canisters in her car.
Information for this article was contributed by Daniel Estrin and Fares Akram of The Associated Press; and by Amy Teibel, Calev Ben-David, Fadwa Hodali, Saud Abu Ramadan and Jonathan Ferziger of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 10/12/2015