Palestinian woman killed by Israeli police after attempted knife attack near Al-Aqsa mosque

Israeli police have shot a Palestinian woman who attempted to stab officers in Jerusalem’s Old City. Medical teams arrived at the scene shortly after but declared the woman dead.

On Thursday, a woman exited the Temple Mount complex (known as Al-Aqsa compound to Palestinians), which holds Al-Aqsa mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City and approached the officers next to the Chain Gate, pulling out a knife and attempting to stab them, local media reported citing police.  

Israeli police then opened fire on the young woman and “medical forces who arrived at the scene determined her death,” police said. No casualties were reported on the Israeli side. AFP journalists said they saw the body of the woman who was later covered in a survival blanket.  

Palestinian media identified the attacker as Esra Khuzaymah, a 30-year-old resident of the town of Qabatiya near Jenin in the West Bank. The Palestinian Safa Press Agency said the Israeli authorities had closed the doors to the complex following the attack. 

Temple Mount is considered the holiest site in Judaism, with the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which sits on the southern side of the complex, the third holiest site in Islam. 

Earlier in September, two Israelis were injured as an attacker stabbed locals at a store next to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. The assailant was shot by two female Border Police patrol officers. In May, clashes at the site were the prelude to a short-lived conflict between militant forces in Gaza and Israel. 

The compound sits in east Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector of the city, which was occupied and later annexed by Israel in 1967.

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