Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager as unrest spreads

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead in the West Bank on Monday, a day after an Israeli airstrike killed a pregnant woman and toddler in Gaza, as unrest threatened to spiral into a full-scale intifada.

Israeli forces shot dead the Palestinian teenager, identified by the Palestinian health ministry as Ahmad Sharake, 13, during clashes near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

1,021 Palestinians have been wounded by live fire and rubber bullets since October 3

Medics said dozens of Palestinians were also shot and wounded in other clashes across the West Bank.

The Red Crescent said Sunday that 1,021 Palestinians have been wounded by live fire and rubber bullets since October 3. Several others have been shot dead.

Sharake, from Jalazun refugee camp, was killed in clashes that broke out as hundreds of Palestinians near Ramallah attempted to approach a road to throw stones and firebombs at settlers' cars.

Series of stabbings

Meanwhile, three new stabbings in Jerusalem have spread more fear, as the unrest showed little sign of slowing after nearly two weeks of violence.

In Monday's first stabbing, an 18-year-old Palestinian identified as Mustafa al-Khatib allegedly attacked a policeman with a knife at an entrance to Jerusalem's Old City and was shot dead by security forces.

The police officer's protective vest stopped the knife and he was unharmed. The attacker, from east Jerusalem, was shot dead by other officers.

Later in the day, a female attacker allegedly stabbed an Israeli policeman near the force's headquarters in Jerusalem and was shot and wounded by the victim, police said.

In the third attack, two others allegedly stabbed two Israelis in the east Jerusalem settlement of Pisgat Zeev, with one attacker - reported to be 16 years old - killed and the other shot and seriously wounded.

Israel 'wants third intifida'

Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki on Monday also accused Israel of seeking to spark "a third intifada".

"Netanyahu wants to instigate a third intifada. He wants to avoid problems that he is facing in the political and diplomatic arena, where he has failed miserably," Malki told AFP in Vienna.

Malki said Netanyahu had committed a "grave mistake" by "violating the status quo" of East Jerusalem's al-Aqsa compound, one of Islam's holiest sites and the holiest site in Judaism.

The site has been a flashpoint in the conflict and the scene of frequent clashes.

"Netanyahu is widening the scope of the conflict from a political one with the Palestinians - which always has a possibility of finding a political solution - to an unlimited war with Muslims around the world," Malki warned.

Calling on Israel to act "according to international law", he said there was nevertheless still "a possibility to contain" the crisis.

Mounting frustration

Palestinian frustration has mounted with efforts towards statehood at a standstill and Israel's occupation continuing, and a recent poll showed that a majority of favour a return to armed uprising in the absence of peace talks.

Netanyahu has ordered the emergency call-up of 16 reserve border police units to reinforce officers in east Jerusalem and throughout Israel.

But while Netanyahu and Abbas have sought to avoid an escalation, frustrated Palestinian youths have defied efforts to restore calm.

On Sunday, the cabinet approved a four-year minimum prison term for people convicted of throwing stones at moving cars.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini appealed against the escalation of violence in phone calls to Netanyahu and Abbas.

"[I] talked now with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas on escalation of violence. Need to stop acts of terror and to avoid disproportionate reactions," Mogherini said in a tweet.