Israel-Palestine tensions rise amid new attacks

A Palestinian man was shot dead in southern Israel on Wednesday after he stabbed an Israeli solider and attempted to grab his weapon.

Israeli security forces subsequently killed the assailant, identified by Israeli media as Amjad Algandi, 24, from Yatta, south of Hebron.

The incident occurred in Kiryat Gat. Israeli media said the soldier was lightly wounded.

Earlier Wednesday, a Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man who then shot and wounded her in Jerusalem's Old City.

The attacker, in her 30s but not named by police, was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The wounded man was treated on the scene before being taken to the hospital.

Later in the day, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli man outside a mall in central Israel, police said. The attacker was arrested.

The incidents come amid an uptick in violence in recent days between Israeli troops and Palestinians. Citing the deteriorating security situation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned Thursday trip to Germany.

Israel's channel 2 TV said the attack in the Old City took place near the site where a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli man to death and wounded his wife and toddler Saturday. The assailant then attacked and killed another Israeli man before he was shot by police.

On Thursday, Palestinian gunmen shot and killed an Israeli couple as they drove with their four young children in the West Bank.

At the heart of the recent tensions is the Al-Aqsa mosque, a hilltop compound revered by Muslims as the spot where the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven and by Jews as the site of the two Jewish biblical Temples. Jews refer to the site as Temple Mount.

The prospect that Israel is trying to expand the Jewish presence at the hilltop compound has led to ongoing clashes, including Palestinians barricading themselves inside the mosque and throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli forces.