zionist forces attacked amid West Bank tensions

Gunshots have been fired at an Israeli guard post near al-Quds (Jerusalem) amid heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank.

The shooting took place on Thursday morning in the Atarot neighborhood, north of al-Quds.

There were no reports of casualties but the guard post was damaged.

Also, in a separate incident, an Israeli soldier suffered light injuries after he was reportedly stabbed in the leg outside his house in East al-Quds.

Security officials claimed two young Palestinians were behind the attack.

The attacks come almost a week after a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead in the West Bank village of Deir al-Asal al-Tahta.

On Wednesday, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem denounced Israeli forces for using live fire, without warning, against innocent youngsters looking for gundelia, a thistle-like plant used in cooking. The NGO also held Israeli commanders responsible for the boy’s death.

The rise in tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories comes amid bleak prospects of an agreement between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in their latest round of US-sponsored direct talks.

On Tuesday, acting PA chief Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for sabotaging the so-called peace talks, and mentioned that the Israeli regime is not willing to end its occupation of Palestinian territories.

He said Tel Aviv has been adding new demands during the negotiations, including the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and the continuation of its settlement expansion plans.

Palestinians say they will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and that they will not agree to anything less than a fully-autonomous state of Palestine with East al-Quds as its capital.