Israeli forces arrest 15 Palestinians following stab attack in Jerusalem

Israeli forces arrested on Sunday night and Monday morning 15 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Palestinian media reports. The arrests followed a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian in Jerusalem, which injured two Israeli policemen.

Shortly after the attack. Israeli security forces closed the area of Ras Al-Amoud in the centre of Jerusalem and other parts of the city.  Israeli security forces also conducted a series of raids on Palestinian houses in the neighbourhood, arresting two Palestinian brothers in their twenties.

Later, Israeli police forces raided the neighbourhood of Jabal Al-Mukaber and arrested a woman and her son, also in his twenties, whom Israeli security forces accused of carrying out the attack.

#video Israeli occupation forces close the Damascus Gate in occupied Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/1ZI0DWlCVh

— NewPress-en (@newpressen) March 20, 2022

"There was a heavy presence by Israeli border police at the Damascus Gate," Daoud Al-Ghoul, a social activist in Jerusalem, told The New Arab. "They were stopping young men and searching them randomly, and they also closed access to the old city," he added.

"In the afternoon, Israeli police raided and searched houses in the neighbourhood of Silwan and in Jabal Al-Mukaber," he said, pointing out that "tensions are high in the city so far."

In the West Bank, the arrests by Israel include two Palestinians in the northern governorate of Jenin, three Palestinians in the city of Jericho, one north of Bethlehem, and six in Ramallah. Detainees in Ramallah included four students from Birzeit University, who were arrested in a single raid to their dorms, as well as the head of a candidates list to the municipality of Al-Bireh.

A Palestinian youth is gunned down this morning by an Israeli cop in Jerusalem. This is what occupation looks like. All cops may be bastards. But these cops are fascist bastards. We need to free Palestinians from Israeli fascism. #FreePalestine #ACAB pic.twitter.com/xLDuGvmZNa

— GhostofDurruti (@RobTheRich0001) March 19, 2022

The second reported stabbing attack by a Palestinian in less than 24 hours. On Saturday, a Palestinian young man was shot, injured and arrested by the Israeli police, after allegedly trying to stab an Israeli settler in the Telpiut suburb of Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities have been preparing control measures ahead of the month of Ramadan, starting in two weeks' time, amidst rising tensions in the city.

Israeli media reported on Friday that Israeli foreign minister, Yair Lapid, discussed security measures during the Muslim holy month in the city with Jordan's King Abdullah, during Lapid's visit to Amman on Thursday.