Young Palestinian stabs and injures Israeli guard at East Jerusalem tram station which Israel has annexed, before he was injured by the fire of other guards who opened fire on him, the Israeli police announced yesterday, Thursday.

A 19-year-old East Jerusalem resident launched a “knife attack” at the Givat Hamivtar tram station in northern Jerusalem, police said.

The attacker “was neutralized a few seconds after the attack by two guards who opened fire,” added the same source.

The young man, seriously injured, was arrested and given assistance.

Hadassah Hospital announced that it was treating the Israeli guard who suffered a hand injury.

Also yesterday, Thursday, a 38-year-old Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank drove his car into a checkpoint in Qalandiya, north of Jerusalem, slightly injuring an Israeli guard, before being arrested.

Violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has escalated since the beginning of the year, mainly in the West Bank, an area occupied by Israel in 1967. Since January 1, at least 238 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, one Ukrainian woman and one Italian have been killed in violent incidents. , according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

These numbers include fighters and civilians on the Palestinian side, including minors, and on the Israeli side mainly civilians, including minors and three members of the Arab minority.

In recent days, violence has also erupted in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas since 2007, where Palestinians have staged demonstrations — on the outskirts of which incidents have broken out — along the fence Israel has erected around the enclave. .

After these incidents, the Erez border crossing between Israel and Gaza, which was due to open on Monday, remained closed, preventing thousands of Palestinian workers from going to work.

In addition, yesterday a Palestinian was seriously injured by an Israeli sniper after opening fire on soldiers, the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Israeli army announced.

EM