Female Israeli Officer Killed by Palestinians in Jerusalem Old City Three attackers opened fire at Damascus Gate By Rory Jones
http://www.wsj.com/articles/female-israeli-officer-killed-by-palestinians-in-jerusalem-old-city-attack-1454518299
The attack happened after Israeli security forces stopped the Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate. Police later said the trio opened fire on the police before being shot and killed. The dead officer was identified as 19-year-old Hadar Cohen.
The attackers were found to be carrying explosives, and were planning a larger attack, according to Israeli authorities. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Jerusalem has been at the center of a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israeli security forces and civilians that began in September and spread across Israel and the Palestinian territories. Increased security in Jerusalem has reduced the numbers in recent weeks.
Israel’s military is coordinating with forces from the Palestinian Authority to calm the violence, Nitzan Alon, the Israeli military’s head of operations, told reporters in Tel Aviv, though he warned it could continue.
“I don’t think this wave will end in a month or two,” he said. “We should adjust.”
After the attack in Jerusalem, the Israeli military said it was restricting movement in and out of Kabatiya, a city in the northern West Bank where the assailants lived.
ENLARGE In five months of violence, Palestinians have killed 29 Israelis and wounded nearly 300 others in lone-wolf stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. More than 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces and civilians, mostly while attacking Israelis, the Palestinian Health Ministry has said.
Israel’s military restricted Palestinian access to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, after intelligence reports suggested an attack against Israelis was imminent. Nonresidents were barred from entering, while residents were prevented from leaving. The restrictions were lifted Tuesday.
On Sunday, a Palestinian police officer shot and wounded three Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near the Jewish settlement of Beit El, on the outskirts of Ramallah.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed the officer, identified by Palestinian media as Amjad Sukkari from the West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli security forces also conducted raids in villages in East Jerusalem on Monday night, arresting 10 Palestinians suspected of rioting, holding weapons and making gasoline bombs, the military said.
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