JERUSALEM (AP) — The latest developments in ongoing tensions between Palestinians and Israelis following days of violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank (all times local).

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5:00 p.m.

Jerusalem's mayor has been photographed carrying an assault rifle during a visit to an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

Mayor Nir Barkat's office says the mayor is a "licensed and trained gun owner" and was carrying his weapons with him during the visit with Israeli security forces to the neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

Jerusalem has seen several stabbing and shooting attacks in the past week.

Barkat's office defended his action, saying that "many terror attacks in Jerusalem have been prevented or neutralized due to the quick actions and response of responsible bystanders." In February, Barkat himself tackled a knife-wielding attacker outside the municipality building.

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4:00 p.m.

Israel's prime minister says he is calling off a planned trip to Germany because of a wave of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Thursday. A statement from Netanyahu's office Wednesday said the Israeli leader would not depart for the two-day visit so that he could "closely monitor the situation."

German government spokesman Georg Streiter said Wednesday that the Israeli government called off the meeting, which would also have involved several ministers from both sides. He said the German government "regrets this cancellation and hopes that these consultations can be held at a later date."

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3:25 p.m.

Israel's president says the country has not and will not alter the status quo at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site and that any "lies" being spread to the contrary are aimed at inciting violence.

Speaking to foreign journalists on Wednesday, Reuven Rivlin sought to soothe tensions after a week of bloody attacks that have killed several Israelis and Palestinians.

At the heart of the recent tensions is a hilltop compound revered by Muslims and Jews. There have been several days of clashes at the site over the past few weeks as Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque while hurling stones, firebombs and fireworks at police.

Many Palestinians believe that Israel is trying to expand a Jewish presence at the site, a claim Israel adamantly denies.

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2:50 p.m.

Israeli police say a suspect stabbed a soldier and tried to take his weapon in southern Israel before being shot dead by police.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says the man attacked the soldier after getting off a bus in the city of Kiryat Gat. The man then fled into a residential building, where police forces tracked him down and shot him dead.

Rosenfeld said the suspect's identity was not yet clear but that police were treating the incident as a terror attack.

Wednesday's attack follows a series of tense days in which Palestinian attacks have killed several Israeli civilians. Earlier in the day, a Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli man who then shot and wounded her in Jerusalem's Old City.