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Israeli security guard stabbed as tensions continue to flare
The guard was stabbed at Jerusalem’s main bus station on Sunday, with violence also erupting close to the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon
US president Donald Trump announced this week that the US would be recognising Jerusalem as he capital of Isreal
An Israeli security guard has been stabbed by a Palestinian at a train station in Jerusalem, according to Israeli police, as the situation in the region continues to deteriorate, following US president Donald Trump’s decision to recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city. The city is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike.
The guard is believed to have been stabbed a 24-year-old Palestinian man from the occupied West Bank. After stabbing the guard, the alleged assailant was tackled by a passer-by. He is currently being detained in police custody.
The US’ decision represents a departure from US policy to date, which has always insisted on a two-state solution to the conflict between Palestine and Israel.
News of the stabbing came as demonstrations in Palestinian territories started to die down, after four intense days of protests.
“Our hope is that everything is calming down and that we are returning to a path of normal life without riots and without violence,” Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Army Radio.
Meanwhile, in Beirut, Lebanese security forces were forced to fire tear gas and use water cannons as protests waving Palestinian flags gathered outside the US embassy in Beirut, setting fires in the street.
U.S. and Israeli flags were burnt, and projectiles thrown towards security forces that had barricaded the main road to the complex.
Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo on Saturday urged the United States to abandon its decision on Jerusalem and said the move would spur violence throughout the region.
Echoing that view, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the de facto leader of the United Arab Emirates, said the U.S. move “could throw a lifebuoy to terrorist and armed groups, which have begun to lose ground” in the Middle East.
Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory and say the status of the city should be decided at future Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Israel says that all of Jerusalem is its capital, while Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state.
