Violent clashes increase as tensions spiral in Israel, Palestine

An Israeli man was stabbed on Wednesday evening in a shopping mall in central Israel, as tensions continue to mount in the region.

The man, who was hospitalised with non-critical injuries, was attacked in a large shopping mall in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva, 10km east of Tel Aviv.

The attacker, currently unidentified, was subdued at the scene by police.

The incident is the latest in a string of violent attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories on Wednesday.

A Palestinian woman was shot and wounded outside Jersualem's Old City, while a Palestinian man was shot dead in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat earlier on Wednesday.

According to Israeli police, the unidentified Palestinian woman allegedly tried to attack two Israeli men outside the Lion Gate of the Old City early on Wednesday morning. The victims of the attack were reportedly only lightly injured, while the Palestinian woman has been seriously wounded.

However, eyewitnesses at the scene told Middle East Eye that the Palestinian woman was unarmed and was defending herself after being physically attacked by two Israeli settlers who attempted to pull her hijab off. According to these reports, one of the settlers then drew his pistol and opened fire.

The incident in Kiryat Gat allegedly involved a Palestinian man's failed attempt to take an Israeli soldier's weapon from him. He had allegedly stabbed him the back before being gunned down, according to Israeli security sources.

Also on Wednesday, the Palestinian news agency Maan reported that Israeli forces shot and injured a 30-year-old Palestinian, after the man allegedly attempted to drive his car through a security checkpoint near Maale Adumim.

Israeli forces said the man driving through the checkpoint was attempting to run over soldiers guarding the post, the Maan report said, citing Israeli media.

These latest incidents come just days after two Israelis were killed in a knife and gun attack in the Old City that prompted a temporary ban on Palestinians other than residents, business owners and schoolchildren entering the historic district.

Netnayhau orders minister ban on Aqsa visits

Late on Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered police to bar Israeli ministers and lawmakers from visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Clashes have rocked the compound, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, in recent weeks amid a spike in tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

The latest reported measure to bar Israeli politicians from Al-Aqsa would be aimed at lowering tensions and reducing the level of Palestinian violence.

The Al-Aqsa compound is the third-holiest site in Islam and the most sacred in Judaism. It is located in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

Muslims fear Israel will seek to change rules governing the site, which allow Jews to visit but not pray.

An increase in visits by Jews in recent weeks over a series of Jewish holidays has added to tensions.

Israel's Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who has come out in support of the right of Jews to pray in the compound, is among those to have visited the site.

Mainline Judaism prohibits Jews from praying at the site.