Palestinian Killed Under Stabbing Pretext in Al Khalil

A Palestinian man was shot dead after he allegedly stabbed and critically wounded an Israeli man near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al Khalil’s Old City on Monday afternoon, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

The Israeli was reportedly evacuated in critical condition to Shaare Zedek hospital, in Jerusalem, for medical treatment.

Locals identified the Palestinian as 21-year-old Ihab Fathi Miswadi, according to Ma’an. They said Israeli forces prevented Palestinian emergency services from reaching him after he was shot, and did not provide him with any assistance.

The Ibrahimi Mosque, which is sacred to Muslims, has been the site of a number of deadly encounters in recent months.

The holy site has been surrounded by a series of tightly controlled checkpoints since 1994, when a US-born Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein,massacred 29 Palestinians inside the mosque.

Al Khalil city has borne the brunt of violence since a wave of unrest swept the occupied Palestinian territory at the beginning of October.

While Israel has alleged that many of these Palestinians were attacking Israelis when they were killed, both Palestinians and rights groups have disputed these claims in a number of cases.