Palestinian Fatally Shot After Alleged Knife Attack On Israeli Police Officer In Jerusalem

A Palestinian man was fatally shot by Israeli police early Monday after he allegedly attacked an officer with a knife in Jerusalem. The incident comes amid a spate of attacks in a recent wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The latest incident took place near Lion's Gate in East Jerusalem after paramilitary border police officers noticed a Palestinian man acting suspiciously, Israeli police said, according to reports. The security officer, who was attacked by the man when he tried to search him, was not injured, a police spokesman told Al Jazeera.

The alleged attacker was described as a “terrorist” by police, Reuters reported. No other details about the Palestinian man have been released.

In over 12 days of violent clashes in cities across Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, at least 24 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed, including two Palestinian boys aged 13 and 15, who were shot by Israeli forces. A Palestinian teenager was shot dead in the West Bank and an Israeli airstrike killed a pregnant woman and toddler in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly accused the Islamic Movement, which runs religious and educational services for Muslims in Israel, of inciting violence by spreading false allegations about Israel's supposed intentions to take over a sensitive Jerusalem holy site, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews.