Israeli soldiers in front of separation wall with mural of arafat on it

Stabbing attack after Gaza militants threaten war with Israel

A stabbing attack was launched on the West Bank last night, 24 hours after Palestinian militants in Gaza threatened war with Israel over a crisis at ­Jersualem’s holiest site.

A lone assailant tried to stab ­Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint in Tekoa, south of Bethlehem, and was shot dead. No soldiers were reported wounded and, although the assailant was not identitied, most such attackers have been Palestinian.

Late on Wednesay, dozens of armed, masked men warned at a press conference in Gaza City that the tensions around the al-Aqsa mosque could be a “spark that ­ignites the whole region”.

One said: “We will not allow our enemy to invade our al-Aqsa, our holy sites, and our people in Jerusalem. We are preparing for war.”

Read the full article by Gregg Carlstrom at The Australian (subscription only).