BICOM

Two 12-year-old Palestinian boys were caught in Jerusalem yesterday carrying knives and a suicide note. The children were trying to enter Jerusalem’s Old City when they aroused the suspicion of the Border Police. Body searches revealed that they were carrying three knives, including a meat cleaver.

The boys reportedly planned to use the knives in a stabbing attack in a narrow alley in the Old City. A “goodbye” note was found in the pocket of one of the boys, with a message to his parents that he was not expecting to survive the planned attack.

In another incident, a Palestinian man attacked an IDF post with an axe. The man was shot during the incident and killed. The soldier he attacked was unharmed after his helmet deflected the axe-blow. The attacker was reported to be linked to Hamas and to have spent time in jail in Israel.

The attack and attempted attack come during a significant drop in the number of violent incidents in recent weeks. However, Israeli leaders are concerned that the upcoming Passover holiday and its accompanying tourism influx could lead to a re-escalation.

Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka was accused of stoking tensions yesterday. Returning from a two-month suspension from the Knesset, the secular-nationalist MK gave an interview to the Palestinian Dunya al-Watan website in which he said “Our people have the right to the mosque, and we must protect it with all of our power. The Palestinian nation is the guardian of the mosque… the increase in Jews who go up [to the Temple Mount] will cause the third intifada to break out and continue throughout the West Bank and Jerusalem depending on which Palestinian organisations join in the fighting.”

Mr Zahalka seemed to be urging Palestinian terror groups like Hamas to attack Israel, saying “the continuation of the Intifada depends on the organisations’ decision—will they adopt the popular struggle or leave it to young people and individuals?” He later ‘clarified’ his remarks, claiming that they were meant as a warning and not a threat.