The Latest: US condemns rash of Palestinian attacks
By The Associated Press, Associated Press
Oct 9, 2015 4:18 PM CDT
Palestinians take cover during clashes with Israeli troops near Ramallah, West Bank, Friday, Oct. 9, 2015. Recent days have seen a string of attacks by young Palestinians with no known links to armed groups who have targeted Israeli soldiers and civilians at random, complicating Israeli efforts to contain...   (Associated Press)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The latest developments in ongoing violence between Palestinians and Israelis (all times local):

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11.00 p.m.

The Obama administration has condemned the ongoing rash of Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers and appealed for calm on all sides.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby referred to the Palestinian attacks on Israelis as "acts of terror."

His comments came after a day where unrest that erupted several weeks ago at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site spread to the Gaza border in clashes that killed six Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Israeli security forces struggled to contain a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks against civilians and soldiers in Israel and the West Bank that intensified this week.

An Israeli stabbed four Arabs, injuring them in an apparent revenge attack Friday morning. Kirby said he had no details on that when asked.

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10:00 p.m.

Israeli police say scores of people from Israel's Arab minority clashed with officers in northern Israel in protests linked to recent unrest with the Palestinians.

Spokeswoman Luba Samri said masked youths threw rocks and rolled burning tires at police in some Arab areas.

Arab citizens make up some 20 percent of Israel's population. They enjoy full citizenship rights but have long complained of discrimination in housing, jobs and other areas of society. They often identify with Palestinian nationalism.

The protests Friday night followed another day of violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

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8:30 p.m.

The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. says he has urged the Security Council president to hold an emergency meeting on the latest tensions with Israel.

Riyad Mansour told The Associated Press that the recent actions by the Israeli military are "disgraceful." Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian demonstrators along the Gaza border on Friday, killing five.

Recent days have seen a series of stabbing attacks by young Palestinians who have targeted Israeli soldiers and civilians at random.

Mansour says the Palestinians would like to see a draft Security Council resolution that would condemn what he calls the "Israeli aggression" and demand a halt to it.

The ambassador says a resolution also should provide "protection" for Palestinians, especially in east Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa mosque, a holy site at the heart of the recent clashes.

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5:10 p.m.

Footage has emerged on social media that appears to show the moments when Israeli security forces shot and wounded an Arab woman at a bus station in the Israeli town of Afula.

Police say the woman, who wore a long robe and headscarf, had pulled out knife with the intention of stabbing a soldier.

The video begins as the woman is surrounded by several members of the security forces, with their weapons pointing at her and yelling. Her right arm made downward gestures with a long shiny object that police said was a knife.

At one point, a member of the security forces rushes forward, shots ring out and the woman falls to the ground. It's not clear from the footage what she was doing at the exact moment she was shot. Police said she posed an "immediate threat."

The woman was taken to a hospital.

There was a Palestinian stabbing attack in the same city Thursday night.

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4:45 p.m.

Gaza's Health Ministry says another Palestinian has been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers, bringing the death toll from a day of violence along the heavily guarded border to five.

The incident happened Friday soon after four Palestinians were killed when they threw rocks and burning tires at Israeli soldiers elsewhere along the border.

Health official Ashraf al-Kidra said 30 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes.

Israel's military says it is checking the latest reports. Earlier it said Palestinians had thrown rocks and rolled burning tires at troops stationed along the border.

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3:50 p.m.

Gaza's Health Ministry says a teenager was killed by Israeli troops after throwing rocks at them near the Gaza border.

He was the fourth Palestinian to be killed Friday in clashes along the heavily guarded frontier.

Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra says the Palestinian was 15 years old.

The incident happened about an hour after three Palestinians were killed when they threw rocks and burning tires at Israeli soldiers elsewhere along the border.

About a dozen Palestinians were wounded in that confrontation.

Israel's military says it is checking the latest report.

The border has been mostly quiet since last year's war between Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza.

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2:40 p.m.

Gaza's Health Ministry says three people were killed and about a dozen injured in clashes with Israeli soldiers on the border.

The Israeli military says about 200 Palestinians in Gaza advanced toward soldiers on the border and threw rocks and rolled burning tires at troops stationed there.

It said that forces opened fire at the main instigators to stop their advance.

The border has been mostly quiet since last year's war between the Islamic militant group Hamas, which rules Gaza, and Israel last year.

Several rockets have been fired recently at Israel from the territory.

Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh applauded the recent Palestinian stabbing attacks across Israel at a speech in Gaza Friday morning and called the surge in violence an "Intifada" or uprising.

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2:10 p.m.

Thousands of Palestinians are attending the funeral of a 19-year-old who killed two Israelis last week.

Mourners marched in a funeral procession for Mohannad Halabi after prayers on Friday afternoon.

Halabi stabbed two Israelis to death and wounded a mother and toddler in a bloody rampage in Jerusalem's Old City before he was killed by police on Saturday.

Halabi was wrapped in various Palestinian flags and held aloft on a stretcher through the crowd.

He was buried as violence continued with multiple stabbing attacks in Jerusalem, the West Bank and elsewhere in Israel on Friday.

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1:20 p.m.

Israeli police say a Palestinian woman was shot after she tried to stab an Israeli in northern Israel.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the woman pulled out a knife and tried to stab a security guard at the entrance to the bus station in the town of Afula. The guard opened fire and injured the Palestinian before she could hurt anybody Friday afternoon, Samri said.

A Palestinian stabbed a soldier in Afula Thursday night.

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12:35 p.m.

Israeli police say a Palestinian was shot and killed after he stabbed an officer in the West Bank and tried to take his gun.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man attacked the officer with a knife near the entrance to the Kiryat Arba settlement in the West Bank.

The officer was lightly injured and the Palestinian assailant was killed, police said.

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12:15 p.m.

Israeli police say a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli teenager in Jerusalem wounding him lightly.

Spokeswoman Luba Samri said the attacker stabbed a 14-year-old Israeli in central Jerusalem before running away.

She said police later arrested him.

It was the latest in a series of Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers this week that have shocked the country.

Earlier Friday an Israeli stabbed and wounded 4 Arabs in southern Israel in an apparent revenge attack.

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12:05 p.m.

Israel's Prime Minister has condemned an Israeli stabbing attack that injured 4 Arabs.

Benjamin Netanyahu "strongly condemned the harming of innocent Arabs." He said whoever deploys violence will be brought to justice.

Earlier an Israeli man injured 2 Bedouin Arabs and 2 Palestinians in Dimona in the south of the country.

The attacker reportedly carried out the attack in revenge for a series of Palestinian attacks this week.

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09:45 a.m.

Israeli police say an Israeli stabbed and injured several Arabs in the southern city of Dimona.

Spokeswoman Luba Samri said a member of the country's Bedouin minority was found injured with a knife laying at his side. Police rushed to the scene and searched the area, she said. Soon after police received reports of another stabbing in the area and arrested an Israeli man.

Israel media reported that the Israeli had stabbed and injured several Palestinians in the town in addition to the Bedouin man. Samri said 4 Arabs were injured. She said the attacks were likely "nationalistically" motivated.

The attack comes after a week of numerous Palestinian stabbing attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

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8:30 a.m.

Israeli police are barring young Muslim men from Jerusalem's most sensitive site as a measure to ensure calm after several days of violence.

Spokeswoman Luba Samri said Friday that men under 45 are barred from the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The age limit has been set intermittently in an attempt to ensure calm as it's mostly younger Palestinians involved in the violence.

Unrest began about three weeks ago as Palestinians repeatedly barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque and hurled rocks and firebombs at police.

It was fueled by Palestinian allegations that Israel plans to change the delicate arrangement at the hilltop compound, holy to Jews and Muslims. Israel has adamantly denied the allegations and accused Palestinian leaders of incitement.

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