JERUSALEM -- Palestinians carried out two stabbing attacks in Jerusalem on Saturday before being shot dead by police, while another two Palestinians were killed during a violent demonstration near the Gaza border fence, as violence continued to spread after a series of attacks against civilians and soldiers in the past week.
Jerusalem has seen a wave of stabbing attacks linked to tensions over a sensitive holy site in the Old City that is sacred to Jews and Muslims. In recent days the attacks have spread to the rest of Israel, while violent protests have broken out in the West Bank and along the Gaza border, where seven Palestinians were killed Friday.
In the first stabbing Saturday, a 16-year-old Arab attacked two Israelis who were walking from the Old City toward the city center, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Police, who saw the men bleeding from stab wounds in their upper bodies and the knife-wielding Palestinian running toward them, opened fire, killing the attacker. The two victims were lightly wounded and taken to the hospital, Rosenfeld said. Photos taken by a witness to the attack showed a dazed-looking youngster in jeans and a sweatshirt holding a knife.
Later, just outside the Old City, another Palestinian stabbed two police officers, one in the neck. Rosenfeld said other police forces opened fire and killed the attacker, but also wounded one of their own. Three officers were taken to a hospital, one in serious condition.
On the Gaza frontier, meanwhile, protests resumed Saturday afternoon, with dozens of Palestinians throwing stones and rolling burning tires toward Israeli troops along the border fence. Gaza health officials said Israeli forces shot dead a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old. The Israeli military said it fired toward protesters who approached the border.
Later, the military said dozens of Palestinians breached the border and briefly entered Israel. The military said five were detained for questioning while the others retreated.
Also, Israeli jets rocketed a training camp of the Hamas movement's armed wing in Gaza today, according to security officials.
No injuries were reported at the training facility but a nearby house collapsed, killing a 30-year-old pregnant woman, officials said.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said five members of the woman's family were injured in the building's collapse.
Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said that given the history of Palestinian cross-border attacks, Israel "must consider any breach of the buffer zone with Gaza to be a potential threat both to civilians and security forces."
Rosenfeld said police in an Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood also came under attack overnight and responded with gunfire, hitting a 25-year-old. Health officials later confirmed the man had died of his wounds.
Violent protests broke out after the man's funeral, with rocks and firebombs hurled toward police, who opened fire and lightly wounded two people.
Protests also took place in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where demonstrators hurled rocks at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas. In the West Bank city of Hebron, thousands took part in two funeral processions for Palestinians who were killed while carrying out attacks in recent days.
Some 1,500 people gathered in the Israeli-Arab city of Nazareth on Saturday to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians. Other protests also took place in different Arab cities, where masked demonstrators clashed with police.
Leaders on both sides have called for calm. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under fire from hard-liners within his governing coalition, as well as opposition lawmakers, for not putting an end to the surging violence. Both sides held protests outside Netanyahu's residence Saturday night.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said his people had no interest in further violence and that he was committed to "peaceful popular resistance." Still, he voiced support for the protesters who have clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque, hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks.
The U.S. State Department said Secretary of State John Kerry, in separate calls with Netanyahu and Abbas, expressed concern over the violence and said the U.S. was monitoring the situation.
Information for this article was contributed by Tribune News Service.
A Section on 10/11/2015