"This is a volatile time and it seems the wave of stabbing attacks is rearing its head," a police official said on Monday, following a stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem.
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"We are witnessing a troubling sequence of everts that may spread outside the capital," he warned.
Two Border Police officers sustained minor injuries in a ramming attack in Samaria on Monday night.
The incident took place near the Palestinian village of Silat al-Harithiya. Other troops at the scene engaged the terrorist, who is in security forces' custody.
In an earlier incident that took place in the capital, two Border Police officers sustained moderate injuries after a Palestinian terrorist stabbed them while they were on patrol in the city's Muslim Quarter.
The police said the two fought off their attacker and were able open fire. According to Magen David Adom emergency services, the two offices, both in their 20s, were in moderate, stable condition.
The terrorist was fatally shot and was pronounced dead at the scene.
This was the second such incident in the Old City in as many days and the fourth in a month. The uptick in terrorist activity, together with the fact that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins on April 2, has prompted the police to increase its operation to locate Palestinians who have entered Israel illegally.
Ramadan is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection and community, but it is also prone to increase terrorist activity in Jerusalem, especially in the vicinity of the Temple Mount, as the compound is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and is the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.
Concerns over a resurgence of terrorist attacks have also been growing over the proximity of Ramadan to the first anniversary of the May 2021 riots in Israel's mixed cities, which preceded Operation Guardian of the Walls.
The defense establishment believes Hamas, the terrorist group controlling the Gaza Strip, will attempt to agitate the situation on the ground and incite violence among Palestinians in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.
The police officer who spoke with Israel Hayom said there was a concern that "the wave of stabbing attacks is rearing its head" and could see such attacks nationwide.
Knifing attacks were the mark of a wave of terrorism that plagued Israel between October 2015 and March 2016.
Those months saw 211 stabbings or attempted stabbings attack against Israeli security forces and civilians, as well as 83 shootings and 42 ramming attacks that claimed the lives of 30 Israelis and two Americans were killed.
Also on Monday, IDF forces destroyed the Silat al-Harithiya home of Muhammad Jaradat, a terrorist who murdered an Israeli man in December in a shooting attack in the Homesh settlement in Samaria.
A riot broke out during the demolition operation, with dozens of Palestinians hurling stones, Molotov cocktails, explosives, and grenades at the forces, Israeli media reported. The troops responded with crowd control measures to disperse the rioters and successfully completed their mission.
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