Renewed tension in Israel and the Palestinian territories on the eve of the US Secretary of State's tour
Tensions escalated in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories on Monday, before US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's trip to the region, which comes after an 11-day escalation between the two sides.
Blinken is expected to leave Washington on Monday on a tour to the Middle East, in which he will visit Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jordan and Egypt, several days after Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, agreed to a ceasefire.
The agreement, which was concluded with Egyptian mediation, came into effect at dawn on Friday, after the death of 248 Palestinians, including 66 children and fighters, and 12 people on the Israeli side, including a child and a soldier.
On Monday, a Palestinian youth carried out an attack that injured two Israeli youths in Jerusalem, before police shot him and shook him.
The attack comes after a campaign of arrests carried out by the Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank, and the Arab and mixed cities inside Israel, affecting dozens of people.
"The attacker was shot and killed," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
The official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) quoted Raed Hamdan, the media official in the municipality of Kafr Aqab, that "the martyr is Zuhdi Al-Tawil (17 years) from Kafr Aqab, and a superior student in the general secondary school in the scientific branch of the Al-Ummah Secondary School in the neighboring town of Al-Ram .
Hadassah Medical Center announced that it is providing treatment to the two young men (in their twenties) who were lightly injured.
The attack took place in an area near the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, which was the cause of the recent escalation, as the neighborhood is witnessing protests against the backdrop of threats to evacuate Palestinian families from their homes in favor of settlement associations.
On Friday, new clashes occurred between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since 1967, resulting in 21 injuries, as confirmed by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
'Rebuild relationships'
US President Joe Biden said in a statement that "Secretary of State Blinken will meet with Israeli leaders to discuss our steadfast support for Israel's security. He will continue our government's efforts to rebuild relations with the Palestinians and their leaders as well as our support for them after years when they were neglected."
The Democratic President added, "He will talk with other key partners in the region, especially about coordinated international efforts to ensure immediate aid arrives to Gaza that will benefit the population and not Hamas, and about how to reduce the risks of renewed conflict in the coming months."
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that he had "signed five confiscation orders for chemical materials destined for Gaza," and according to a statement issued by his office, these materials were to be used for "civilian and military purposes at a manufacturing site belonging to the military wing of Hamas."
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