Intensified Campaign of Violence Continues Unabated

Two Israeli police officers – a man and a woman – became the latest victims of the escalating acts of violence by Palestinians on Monday morning. As was the case with the majority of incidents dating back to early October of last year, the assailants appear to have acted alone, inspired by incitement and Islamist terror groups. In a pattern repeated more than two hundred times, the attacker charged the two police officers with his slashing knife, wounding the pair – one critically and one seriously — before being shot and seriously wounded by one of the wounded cops. The incident took place outside Herod’s Gate at the Old City of Jerusalem. Even if the young Palestinians who are carrying out the acts of terror are doing so on their own – an idea not everyone accepts – the sophistication of the attacks appears to becoming more acute and the accumulation of weaponry has security authorities worried. On Sunday, a young Palestinian stopped for a search in Jerusalem was discovered to be carrying two Molotov Cocktails and a knife. As has been the case in previous years, security will be strengthened in the Old City of Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount during the Jewish High Holy days which begin on the evening of October 2. Underscoring the sharp escalation of attacks, police report 342 incidents were thwarted in all of 2015 while 372 attacks were prevented in the first half of 2016.