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Two Israelis Killed in Separate Stabbing Attacks

A 26-year-old woman and an 20-year-old IDF soldier were killed in two stabbings today, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a tough response to the increased unrest.
Image via AP/Tomer Appelboum

An Israeli woman and an IDF soldier were killed and two other people were injured in stabbing attacks in the country today, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a tough response to an upswell in violence.

In one of the incidents, an assailant stabbed three Israelis at a bus stop outside the Alon Shvut settlement in the occupied West Bank, leaving a 25-year-old women named as Dalia Lamkus dead and two others wounded. The knifeman was then apprehended and shot by a security guard.

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What appears to be CCTV footage shows a minivan slam into a bus stop outside the West Bank settlement before the attacker enters the frame and stabs three bystanders. The video described as showing the incident was shared on local and social media following the attack.

The other attack took place at a train station in Israel's second city of Tel Aviv and left a 20-year-old soldier seriously wounded, who later reportedly died from his injuries.

A suspect, described as a Palestinian youth from Nablus in the West Bank, was captured soon afterwards and is now in custody, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told reporters. Family members who spoke with AFP identified the attacker as Nureddine Abu Hashiyeh, 17, a painter and decorator from Askar refugee camp.

Amnesty says Israel's attacks on civilians during Gaza offensive amounted to 'War Crimes.' Read more here.

Speaking shortly after the incident, Netanyahu said he would use any means necessary to halt weeks of unrest, including razing the homes of Arabs involved in violence. He also suggested demonstrators should move to the Gaza Strip or West Bank.

It was the latest incident in a period of increased violence in the region. Police shot and killed Kheir a-Din Hamdan, a 22-year-old Arab-Israeli during an arrest in the town of Kafr Kana on Saturday.

Video shows Israeli police shooting man with knife as he walks away from them. Read more here.

Video footage emerged of the incident that appeared to show Hamdan backing away before he was shot, seeming to contradict the initial police account that they had shot him in self defense.

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A number of Palestinians have also deliberately driven into Israeli pedestrians in recent weeks, leaving several people dead and injured.

Footage reportedly showing the shooting by police of an Arab-Israeli man in Kafr Kana, Israel, was released on Saturday, November 9.

Tensions have been fueled by a dispute over one of Jerusalem's holiest sites — called Noble Sanctuary by Muslims and Temple Mount by Jews — which is home to the Al-Aqsa mosque and where Jewish temples once stood. The authorities have long banned Jews from praying there, but in recent weeks, hardline Israeli elements have stepped up campaigns to be allowed to do so.

Muslims countered with protests of their own and in late October a Palestinian gunman shot and wounded an ultraconservative rabbi who had been promoting Jewish presence at the site. Israel responded by blocking all access to the area for the first time in 14 years.

Jewish group crowdfunds $90K for 'third temple' on Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Read more here.

Follow John Beck on Twitter: @JM_Beck