Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues after a week of attacks

Israeli police arrested two Palestinian suspects near a Tel Aviv-area mall on Thursday after a large-scale manhunt triggered by what officials said was a warning about an imminent terrorist attack in the area.

The pair were appended at an apartment in the city of Givatayim after a chase involving a helicopter and security forces, Tel Aviv police chief Shimon Aviv told the Voice of Israel radio station.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri confirmed to NBC News that the two suspects had been transferred to Shin Bet, Israel's equivalent of the FBI, for interrogation.

On Wednesday morning police blocked entrances to Jabal Mukaber, a district that was home to three men accused of killing three Israelis on Tuesday.

Later, police said they shot dead a Palestinian who had stabbed an Israeli woman at Jerusalem's main bus station. Another Palestinian tried to stab a policeman near the walled Old City. He, too, was shot dead by police, they added.

Members of Zaka Rescue and Recovery team carry a covered body from the scene of an attack / Reuters

Since the beginning of October, seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in shooting and stabbing attacks, the Israeli authorities say. At least 30 Palestinians have also been killed, including assailants, and hundreds have been injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

In other developments:

• State department spokesman John Kirby said the US was "concerned" at "reports of security activity that could indicate the potential excessive use of force" by Israeli authorities


• The White House and state department confirmed that Secretary of State John Kerry would travel to the region soon


• In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Mr Kirby played down comments made by Mr Kerry indicating he believed Israel's settlements policy was to blame for the violence

CROSSED ACCUSATIONS

Speaking for the first time since the upsurge in violence began, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Israeli actions were "threatening to spark a religious conflict that would burn everything".

He also accused Israel of carrying out "executions of our children in cold blood", highlighting the case of a 13-year-old Palestinian boy, Ahmed Manasra, who was hit by a car after he and a 15-year-old stabbed two Israelis, one of them a 13-year-old boy, on Monday.

On Thursday, Israel's government released video and photos showing the boy alive in an Israeli hospital. It described the Palestinian leader's comments as "lies and incitement".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday the new security measures were aimed at "those who try murder and with all those who assist them".

On Tuesday night, Israel's security cabinet authorised police to close or surround "centres of friction and incitement" in Jerusalem.

It also announced that the homes of Palestinians who attacked Israelis would be demolished within days and that their families' right to live in Jerusalem would be taken away.

On Wednesday morning, police said checkpoints were set up at "the exits of Palestinian villages and neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem.” Hundreds of soldiers were also deployed.

Palestinian soldiers

EAST JERUSALEM ACCESS RESTRICTED

Besides calls to legally armed Israeli civilians, they have shut down access to some Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem and put more police on the streets, according to police spokeswoman Luba Samri.

Israel's government has also given the OK (after the legal process plays out, including possible appeals to Israel's Supreme Court) to demolish attackers' homes.

This is in addition to calling up about 1,300 reserve border police officers and recruiting 300 security guards for duties tied to public transportation, in light of several recent attacks on buses or at bus stops.

"We've taken careful steps," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "(The steps) are being taken in order to make sure the situation stays under control and doesn't get out of hand."

Human Rights Watch advocate Sari Bashi criticized measures like the East Jerusalem clampdown, saying it adversely affects all Palestinian residents rather than being a narrowly tailored response to a specific concern.

As to tearing down attackers' houses -- a deterrent tactic that some say directly hurts innocent people, including women and children, who live there -- Bashi said, "The recent spate of attacks on Israeli civilians would present a challenge for any police force. But exacerbating the punitive policy of home demolitions is an unlawful and ill-considered response."