30th Palestinian killed by Israeli forces as violence continues

A Palestinian was killed Tuesday in clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Palestinian medical sources said, the latest such incident in nearly two weeks of violence.

The death of Moataz Zawahra, 28, from a Bethlehem refugee camp, takes to around 30 the number of Palestinians killed, including alleged attackers.

Seven Israelis have also been killed since an upsurge in violence began at the start of the month.

According to Israeli media, Palestinians shot and stabbed passengers on a Jerusalem bus on Tuesday, killing one and injuring five.

Israeli police say they killed one Palestinian, and arrested another.

Minutes later, another Palestinian rammed his car into a bus stop in the centre of Jerusalem, then got out and began stabbing pedestrians, killing at least one and wounding several, police said. 

Earlier in the morning, a Palestinian man stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli on a shopping street in Raanana, just north of Tel Aviv, officials and witnesses said. 

Amateur video distributed by police showed several men kicking and beating the alleged assailant as he lay on the ground. The ambulance service said he was seriously hurt.

Within an hour of that attack, another Palestinian struck in Raanana, wounding four people, police and media reports said. 

The violence has been stirred in part by Muslim anger over increasing Jewish visits to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.

The main Palestinian factions, including the Western-backed Fatah movement and the Hamas group, declared a "Day of Rage" on Tuesday across the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

The wave of violence has raised speculation that Palestinians could be embarking on another uprising or intifada, reflecting a new generation's frustrations over their veteran leadership's failure to achieve statehood.