Palestinian killed after attempting to stab Israeli police in Jerusalem

A Palestinian man was killed on Saturday after allegedly trying to stab an Israeli policeman in Jerusalem, the Israeli police said.

Two Israeli policemen suspected a Palestinian at the Tsahal square near the Old City of Jerusalem, approached him and asked to see his ID, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.

The Palestinian, 26, from east Jerusalem, pulled out a knife from his pocket, attempting to stab one of them, according to the statement.

The two police took a step back to avoid the attack while one of them fired at the assailant, killing him at the scene. No Israelis were injured, it said.

It is the second Palestinian killed after allegedly trying to carry out an attack against Israelis over the weekend.

On Friday, a Palestinian woman was shot and killed by Israeli paramilitary border police guards after allegedly trying to run them over in Silwad, a Palestinian town in the West Bank, 12 km northeast of Ramallah. No Israelis were injured in this attack either.

Twenty-one Israelis and one U.S. citizen were killed since the current wave of ongoing violence started in October, in lone wolf stabbing, car-ramming and shooting attacks perpetrated by Palestinians.

More than 120 Palestinians have died during this period, some during clashes with Israeli security forces, while others were gunned down after allegedly trying to commit attacks against Israelis.

Israeli leaders blame the Palestinian Authority for incitement to violence due to religious motives, sparked by tensions over the flashpoint holy site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority charges the violence is the result of nearly 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip territories, home to more than five million Palestinians, and amid dim prospects of establishing a Palestinian state in these territories, in accordance with the two-state peace solution. Endit