Seven Palestinians killed, 963 arrested in Jerusalem this year

Israeli security forces have killed seven Palestinians and arrested almost a thousand people since the beginning of this year, a Jerusalem-based monitor has said.

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center released a report this week detailing the most flagrant violations perpetrated by Israeli police and military officers in the first half of 2016.

The report said that 963 Palestinians have been arrested, including 47 women, 58 elderly and 366 minors, in Jerusalem,

"The use of weapons to kill Jerusalemites was always the first option of the occupation forces who did not think about arresting Jerusalemites or even shooting to injure them not to kill," it said.

The report said that the victims had been "murdered in cold blood" under the pretext of attempting to carry out stabbings and shootings.

It also said that 68 Palestinian-owned properties have been demolished, displacing 71 people.

This week, Israel approved building 560 new settler homes in the large Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem, a move that will likely worsen an existing wave of deadly violence.

The approval came days after a key international report warned that Israel's settlement expansion and land confiscation were eroding the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict.

A wave of violence since October has killed at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Israeli authorities claim that most of the Palestinians killed were attempting to carry out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.

Others were shot dead by Israeli security forces during protests and clashes or killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip.