At least two Palestinians killed, 16 Israelis hurt in violence over Trump plan
Violence over Trump plan
AtleasttwoPalestinianswerekilledin the occupied West Bank and16Israeliswerehurton Thursday in a surge ofviolencethat erupted amid Palestinian anger at a USpeaceplan.
In Jerusalem, an Arab citizen of Israel waskilledafter he shot and slightly wounded an Israeli paramilitary border policeman at an entrance to the walled Old City, Israeli authorities said, calling the attack politically motivated.
The peace proposal announced by USPresident DonaldTrumpon January28 would give Israel most of what it has sought during decades of conflict, including the disputed holy city of Jerusalem and nearly all the occupied land on which it has built settlements.
Withviolenceon the rise, the Israeli military said it was sending reinforcements to the West Bank, where Israeli troops in the city of Jenin shot dead a 19-year-old man during clashes.Palestinianssaid he had thrown rocks at soldiers who came to demolish the home of a Palestinian involved in the 2018 killing of a Jewish settler.
In a separate incident in Jenin, a Palestinian officer in the police station waskilledby what Palestinian authorities said was Israeli gunfire. Israeli officials did not comment, and Israeli media reported he was shot by troops by mistake.
In a scene reminiscent of a wave of Palestinian street attacks in 2015, a car ran down Israeli soldiers on a Jerusalem sidewalk, injuring atleast14 of them, Israeli police said.
The assailant fled and was arrested later in the day, the Israeli military said, without immediately identifying the driver. Israel's YNet news website identified him as a 25-year-old Palestinian.
On a road to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, a suspected Palestinian gunman slightly wounded an Israeli soldier before fleeing, the Israeli military said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel for the deaths, linking them to whatTrumphas billed as the "deal of the century".
Trumpsenior adviser Jared Kushner, the face of the USplan, said Abbas bore some responsibility for the surge inviolence.
"I think he does have responsibility," Kushner said of Abbas moments after briefing United Nations Security Council ambassadors on theplan's details. "He calls for days of rage in response and he said that before he even saw theplan."
Kushner added that he met personally with Abbas four times as he was crafting the proposal, but "they chose not to meet with us again."
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ThePalestinians, who have long shunned theTrumpadministration, accusing it of bias towards Israel, say theplanfalls far short of their demands for a viable independent state and other rights.
Israel supports theTrumpplan. The Arab League opposes it, while the European Union has rejected parts of it.
Visiting Israeli security forces in the West Bank after Thursday's incidents, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also accused Abbas of incitingviolence.
"We will do everything necessary to protect our security, to define our borders and to ensure our future," Netanyahu said in a statement. "We will do it with you or without you."
On Wednesday, Israeli troops shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian elsewhere in the West Bank, saying he had thrown a firebomb at them during a violent protest againstTrump'splan. He was the first fatality since the blueprint was announced.
The Israel-Gaza border has also been shaken by several days ofviolence.
Palestinianshave launched mortar fire, rockets and balloon-borne explosives into Israel, causing panic but no serious casualties. Israel has carried out nightly airstrikes against sites belonging to Gaza's ruling Hamas Islamists.