Border Police thwart attempted terror attack at Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City

17 Palestinians arrested in overnight raids in east Jerusalem

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Updated: OCTOBER 12, 2015 15:29
Police kill Palestinian after stabbing attempt in Jerusalem
A Palestinian terrorist was shot and killed Monday morning near Lion’s Gate, in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, after attempting to stab a Border Police officer. It was the third such attack at the contested site in less than 10 days.
According to police, at approximately 9 a.m., the unidentified assailant, whom police deemed suspicious, was asked to stop for inspection. The suspect then withdrew a knife from his pocket and charged one of the officers, stabbing him in his metal breastplate.
Police immediately opened fire, killing the man.
Despite markedly heightened security, coupled by newly-installed metal detectors, the area located near the entrance to the Temple Mount remains one of the most volatile and dangerous  sections of the Old City.
On the night of October 3, a Palestinian terrorist murdered two Jewish men and wounded a mother and son there on a stabbing and shooting spree, before he was shot dead by police. The victims were Rabbi Nehemia Lavie, 41, an Old City resident who worked at the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, and Aharon Benita from Beitar Illit.  
Five days later, an armed ultra-Orthodox man was stabbed in the back of the neck by an 18-year-old Palestinian woman before shooting her at close range.
Amid the capital’s ongoing wave of violence, Acting police Police Chief Bentzi Sau on Sunday ordered 1,000 extra highly-trained Border Police officers to be dispatched to the Old City and flashpoint Arab neighborhoods to assist the 3,500 officers presently on the ground.
Stabbing attacks against Jews have become so common that Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat last Thursday encouraged citizens with gun permits to remain armed when walking the city streets.
Meanwhile, police said 17 Palestinians in east Jerusalem suspected of throwing rocks and firebombs at officers and Jews in the capital were arrested overnight, bringing the total number of Palestinian arrested since October 1 to nearly 350.