JERUSALEM: A Palestinian man and an Israeli guard were killed in separate West Bank incidents on Saturday following clashes on Friday between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque.
The guard was attacked at the entrance of the Ariel settlement, the army said, adding that they were pursuing the “terrorists”.
The Hamas movement hailed the killing as a “heroic operation”, with spokesman Hazem Qassem declaring it a response to the “attacks on Al Aqsa’’, the mosque which has been one of the focal points for weeks of violence.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 42 people had been hurt at the site, which is venerated by Muslims and Jews.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The man, in his 20s, was shot in the chest during an Israeli army operation in the town of Azzun, the ministry said in a statement.
The fresh unrest comes as the end of Ramadhan nears.
Violence in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem has raised fears of another armed conflict similar to an 11-day war last year between Israel and Hamas, triggered in part by similar unrest at Al Aqsa.
Since early last week there has been isolated rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel and Israeli reprisals, but no casualties reported on either side.
Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been hurt in clashes at the Al Aqsa compound.
The site is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.
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