3 Palestinians, 1 Israeli killed as conflict flares

Three Palestinians and one Israeli policewoman were killed Friday in a new wave of violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, medical and police sources said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that Israeli police forces shot dead three Palestinians in double attacks carried out near Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem.

The Ramallah-based ministry said in an emailed press statement that Amer Badawi from Hebron, Aadel Ankoosh from Ramallah and the third one unidentified were all killed by Israeli police gunfire.

Meanwhile, the Israeli police said in a press statement that a policewoman, seriously injured from the attack, died of her wounds.

The two attacks, a shooting and a stabbing, injured four other Israelis, according to the police statement.

The police opened fire at the attackers, the statement added, killing three of them and the fourth managed to escape.

Since October 2015, a wave of violent tension has been going on between Israel and the Palestinians, leaving at least 271 Palestinians and 47 Israelis killed, according to official Palestinian and Israeli figures.

Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, hailed the double attack. Hazem Qassem, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, called the attack a "heroic" one in a text message sent to reporters.

"The brave intifada (uprising) of our people will continue until the full liberation of our occupied lands," said Qassem, referring to a wave of tension that has been going on between Israel and the Palestinians since October 2015.

Meanwhile, clashes broke out Friday afternoon near the borders between eastern Gaza Strip and Israel, wounding eight Palestinians and dozens suffered tear gas, according to eyewitnesses.

Some eight Palestinians were shot in the clashes, which happened between dozens of Palestinian young men and Israeli soldiers stationed on the borders, said Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Gaza Health Ministry.

He said that all casualties were shot by Israeli soldiers' gunfire, adding that one of the eight wounded is a child.

They said that Gaza youngsters waved Palestinian flags, threw stones at the soldiers who fired back with tear gas and live ammunition.

The clashes are organized by the Gaza-based committee to defeat the Israeli blockade which has been imposed on the coastal enclave since 2007. International rights and humanitarian groups warned that the situation in Gaza might deteriorate due to the hard living in the enclave.