Palestinian assailant killed in Jerusalem

A Palestinian man was shot and killed on Sunday evening in Jerusalem after he ran over an Israeli and stabbed another, Israeli police said.

The incident, the latest in a two-month-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence, occurred near the central bus station at the entrance to the city.

Police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said the assailant, a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, was "confirmed dead."

She said the assailant drove his car to the western side of the city, which is predominantly populated by Israelis, where he ran over two Jewish youths, injuring them lightly. He then stepped out of his car and stabbed a police support volunteer, injuring him lightly in his hand.

A soldier who passed in the area by chance noticed the incident and shot dead the attacker.

The incident came a day after the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships of the standstill that prevents a two-state solution from materializing, while the conflict continues to take its deadly toll.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that the only solution to the conflict is a "demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state."

The last round of peace talks reached an impasse in April 2014.

The recent spate of violence was triggered by increasing visits of far-right Israelis to the al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site in East Jerusalem holy to both Muslims and Jews. The unrest then quickly spread throughout the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Israel.

Israeli forces killed more than 100 Palestinians since the violence started in September, while Palestinians killed 19 Israelis. Endit