Palestinian arrested after stabbing of two Israeli teenagers

Two Israeli teenagers have been stabbed in Jerusalem, in the 14th incident of Palestinian violence against Israelis in the last six months.

Israeli police said the suspect, a 19-year-old Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, was apprehended at his home after he was found with a knife.

Tensions have been running high in and around Jerusalem since the killings of Israeli and Palestinian captives in tit-for-tat kidnappings by Palestinian militants and Jewish extremists last summer.

The stabbings occurred four days after two Israeli border police officers were wounded when a Palestinian drove his car into them in East Jerusalem. He was shot and killed.

Last week, four Israelis were hurt after being hit by a car at the entrance to the settlement of Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem. That same week, a 19-year-old Israeli was lightly wounded in a stabbing in the West Bank.

Haaretz newspaper says that most of the incidents in the last six months involve what security officials call "lone-wolf" attacks by Palestinians operating alone, and often spontaneously.

Last Thursday, a 10-year- old Palestinian boy was wounded in his eye after being shot by Israeli police in the Shuafat refugee camp. Youths were reportedly throwing stones at Israeli forces, who responded by firing sponge-tipped bullets. The child is said to be at risk of losing his eye. – (Guardian service)