JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities took the extraordinary step of banning nonresident Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday as increased violence gave rise to concerns that a third intifada, or uprising, may have begun.
Tensions continued to simmer in Jerusalem and the West Bank as two Israeli victims of a stabbing attack were laid to rest and Palestinians clashed with police and soldiers.
Hundreds of Israeli police patrolled the streets and neighborhoods of East Jerusalem and the Old City and clashed with residents throughout the city. The worst violence was in the neighborhood of Issawiya, where a 19-year-old Palestinian, alleged to have stabbed an Israeli youth, was shot and killed by police.
The move to limit entry to the Old City, Jerusalem’s ancient tourist and market hub, was described as “a drastic measure” by police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The order barred access on Sunday and Monday — the last two days of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot — to Palestinians who do not live in the Old City. Israeli citizens, local residents, tourists and students were exempt.
Police set up barricades at gates leading to the Old City, where about 40,000 people live, most of them Palestinians.
Police also barred Muslim men under 50 from entering Al Aqsa mosque compound, which has been a center of tension the past three weeks. Police had entered the compound the night before and removed dozens of Palestinians who were keeping a vigil in the mosque in anticipation of visits by Jewish extremists the next day.
Israel captured the Old City and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed them. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of an independent Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority called for international protection for the Palestinian people against what it termed Israeli attacks, while some officials described the violence as signs of a third intifada.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on the phone Sunday evening to discuss the latest events in the area.
Abbas, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, urged Ban “to speed up efforts to provide international protection to the Palestinian people before things get out of hand.”
Abbas told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that his government will no longer abide by the 1993 Oslo accords as long as Israel does not honor them.
Sultan Abu Einain, a leader in Abbas’ Fatah party, told Palestine TV that the events in the West Bank and Jerusalem “are signs of a third intifada.”
His sentiment was echoed by some Israeli analysts. Writing in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, journalist Nahum Barnea described the developments as a third intifada.
“It is important to call it by its name,” he wrote.
The first intifada broke out in December 1987 and lasted until the start of the Oslo peace process. The second intifada broke out in September 2000 and lasted until 2005, after Abbas’ election as president of the Palestinian Authority.
Hanan Ashrawi, member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, accused the Israeli government of “deliberately creating a situation of violence and instability that threatens to spiral out of control.”
Two fatal attacks on Jews in recent days have increased tension.
Two Jewish men, one walking with his wife and infant and the other rushing to his aid, were stabbed to death Saturday in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli officials and news reports said.
The suspected killer, a 19-year-old Palestinian law student from Ramallah, was shot to death by police officers.
Earlier in the week, a husband and wife were shot to death on a West Bank road while driving in a car with their four children, who were unharmed.
The Palestinian who was shot by police on Sunday was identified as Fadi Elwan. Police said he had a knife and had stabbed and wounded an Israeli youth.
Elwan’s family disputed the police account and said he was going to pray at Al Aqsa mosque when he was chased by an angry mob of Israelis who wanted to kill him, prompting him to run toward the police patrol before he was shot several times and killed.
Video of the incident show Elwan being chased by men who appear to be ultra-Orthodox Jews shouting, “Shoot him, shoot him.”
Police later raided Elwan’s home and briefly took his father and uncle into custody for questioning. Clashes broke out throughout the day between residents of the neighborhood and police. A number of people were arrested and some wounded, according to Red Crescent accounts.
In addition to the violence and clashes in Jerusalem, Palestinians also clashed with Israeli soldiers and settlers in various areas of the West Bank.
Jewish settlers reportedly attacked a Palestinian home just outside Ramallah late Saturday, prompting clashes with its residents and other Palestinians.
Farther north, a large Israeli army unit raided the Jenin refugee camp early Sunday to arrest a Palestinian militant, but ended up clashing with residents and destroying the Palestinian’s home without arresting him.
Nader Irsheid, director of the Jenin hospital, said 22 people were brought to his hospital with gunshot wounds, mainly to the lower parts of their bodies.. He said two people with serious injuries were transferred to a hospital in Nablus.
Israeli soldiers set up checkpoints around Ramallah and Nablus and nearby villages, restricting and delaying movement on West Bank roads. Long lines of cars were seen at checkpoints and hours-long delays were reported.
Settlers also attacked Palestinian commuters on West Bank roads and set fire to fields, Palestinians said.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official in Nablus, said 200 cars were damaged by Israeli settlers and several acres of land planted with olive trees were set on fire.
Israeli Intelligence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Yisrael Katz said in an interview that Israel might be forced to launch another “Defensive Shield,” the name of a military operation Israel waged in the West Bank in 2002 after a wave of suicide bombings.
Israeli officials have vowed to restore security in Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank.
“Our enemies know how to hurt us, but will not defeat us,” said President Reuven Rivlin. “The fight against terrorism requires determination and inner fortitude.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held urgent security consultations with top army, police and intelligence chiefs upon his return from the United States and was set to convene a security cabinet meeting Monday evening.
The attacks that left four Israelis dead in 48 hours prompted fierce criticism against Netanyahu from his political opposition, with hawks slamming him for being lax on Palestinian violence and doves for not promoting a policy to engage Palestinians.
Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for a halt to the monthly transfer of tax revenue Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority, and suggested revoking travel permits for Palestinian officials. He also said Palestinian attackers should be put to death and their family’s homes should be demolished..
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog called for coupling security measures with diplomatic efforts to harness what he called a “genuine regional desire” for change. “If this government cannot provide security for its citizens it should draw the conclusions,” he said.
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