LIVE BLOG: The Third Intifada - the unrest continues

Ahead of an urgent cabinet meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Tuesday and thought to be underway now, several Israeli politicians suggested immediate measures they hope the government will take in wake of violent attacks.

Several politicians - including opposition leader Isaac Herzog, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan - reportedly called for the closure of Palestinian neighbourhoods in occupied East Jerusalem.

Lieberman also reportedly said that no assailant should survive an attack and urged the government to deny residency to anyone in East Jerusalem who is involved in an attack. 

"I remind the prime minister and cabinet members: words do not stop terrorists. Security is gained through an iron fist," Lieberman said in a statement.

A police spokeswoman told the Guardian that Erdan was also considering making it easier for Israelis to get gun licenses; Lieberman too reportedly said the country should adopt open-fire regulations similar to the US.

Calling Tuesday "a very hard day" for Israel, Labour party leader Isaac Herzog called on Facebook for the Israeli government to lockdown Jerusalem's Palestinian neighbourhoods and "friction points".

Herzog also called for the broad deployment of army and police forces, potentially including reservists, if neccesary and for authorities to crackdown on Islamic websites which he said incite violence.

The Temple Mount - called al-Aqsa Mosque by Muslims - should be temporarily closed to visitors, he wrote.

Hundreds of Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces clashed at the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel around midday.

Clashes along the border in recent days have left nine Palestinians dead from Israeli fire. 

A Jewish Israeli reportedly stabbed a 22-year-old Jewish Israeli in northern Israel on Tuesday because he thought he was an Arab, Channel 2 reported.

The perpetrator, who was caught after the attack which occured outside an Ikea in Kiryat Ata, reportedly told police during an interrogation that he intended to harm Arabs because of the decline of security around the country.

Photos sent to Middle East Eye from Palestinian activists show shops in Sakhalin city have been shut to observe a general strike. 

(MEE)

A video sent to Middle East Eye from Palestinian activists who hold Israeli citizenship shows shops in Sakhnin city have been shut to observe a general strike, in protest against Israeli occupation and policies. 

The death toll in Tuesday's Jerusalem attacks has risen to three, following the death of a second victim in this morning's attack on a bus in a Jewish neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

A 60-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, and police also killed one of the alleged attackers. Another man, aged 45, died upon arrival at hospital.

A third person was killed in a separate attack when someone drove into a bus stop and jumped out of the car holding a knife.

In response to the violence, Israel was planning an emergency meeting of its security cabinet.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have staged a strike in the besieged territory in solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem and inside Israel, protesting against Israeli occupation and part of what Hamas has called a "third Intifada".

MEE photographer Mohammed Asad took the below photos: 

There have been a series of stabbings during the most recent wave of violence to hit Jerusalem's Old City.

Below is a map marking the locaitons of Monday's attacks:

Palestinian activists have posted on Facebook advice on how to minimise the chances of being attacked and/or killed by Israeli forces or Jewish settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories as well as inside Israel.

They fear that Israeli forces would shoot suspected attackers before assessing the level of threat or if indeed an attack was intended.

Below is one example: