Israel-Palestinian violence flares in West Bank and Gaza

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• From the sectionMiddle East

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionClashes were reported between Palestinians and Israeli troops across the West Bank

Fresh violence has erupted between Israel and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, leaving two Palestinians dead, Gaza medical sources say.

Gaza's health ministry said they were shot by Israeli troops during clashes near the border.

In the West Bank, a Palestinian posing as a journalist stabbed and wounded a soldier before he was shot dead.

Violence between the two sides has spiralled, with near-daily stabbings by Palestinians of Israelis this month.

Seven Israelis have been killed and dozens wounded in the stabbings and some gun attacks. At least 30 Palestinians, including several of the attackers, have been killed in the growing unrest.

The upsurge began last month when tensions at a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims boiled over amid rumours Israel planned to relax long-standing rules to strengthen Jewish rights at the complex. Israel has repeatedly denied such claims.

The UN Security Council is to hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the upsurge of violence.

Media captionA Palestinian man wearing a yellow vest with the word Press written on it stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier near Hebron

What is driving the latest violence?

Jeremy Bowen: Fear and loathing in holy city

Can Israel and the Palestinians contain spiralling violence?

Gaza clashes

Violent protests spread across parts of the West Bank on Friday, with clashes reported in Bethlehem, Ramallah and Tulkarm.

Pictures from Bethlehem showed masked Palestinians throwing sling-shots at troops from behind industrial bins, as soldiers fired tear gas to disperse them.

Media captionPLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi accused Israel of "killing Palestinians with impunity"

Similar scenes played out in other parts of the occupied territories.

In Gaza, protesters, some throwing stones, advanced towards the border fence with Israel when troops opened fire, reports say.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said two Palestinians were killed in separate incidents, and dozens of other people injured.

It came on what Hamas, the Islamist group dominant in Gaza, had earlier declared a "day of rage" against Israel.

Tomb torched

Earlier, Palestinian rioters torched a Jewish holy site in the West Bank city of Nablus, amid soaring tensions.

Dozens of Palestinians overran Joseph's Tomb, revered as the resting of the biblical figure, and where Jews go to pray.

Image copyrightIsraeli Military Spokesman

Image captionJoseph's Tomb was badly damaged in the blaze

Palestinian police dispersed the crowd and firefighters extinguished the blaze before Israeli security forces arrived.

Israel's military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner said the attack was "a blatant violation of the basic value of freedom of worship".

It came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinian leadership to stop a wave of attacks.

Media captionMickey Rosenfeld of the Israeli police says the situation in Jerusalem is "relatively tense"

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack on the tomb as "illegal", adding that it "offends our culture and our religion and our values".

Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian disguised as a news photographer stabbed and moderately wounded an Israeli soldier, the Israeli military said.

It said the Palestinian attacker was shot dead in the incident in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, next to Hebron.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry has said he planned to travel to the region in the next few days, amid reports that a meeting may take place in Jordan to include the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

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What is happening between Israelis and Palestinians?

There has been a spate of stabbings of Israelis - several of them fatal - by Palestinians since early October, and one apparent revenge stabbing by an Israeli. The attackers have struck in Jerusalem and central and northern Israel, and in the occupied West Bank. Israel has tightened security and its security forces have clashed with rioting Palestinians, leading to deaths on the Palestinian side. The violence has also spread to the border with Gaza.

What's behind the latest unrest?

After a period of relative quiet, violence between the two communities has spiralled since clashes erupted at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site in mid-September. It was fuelled by rumours among Palestinians that Israel was attempting to alter a long-standing religious arrangement governing the site. Israel repeatedly dismissed the rumours as incitement. Soon afterwards, two Israelis were shot dead by Palestinians in the West Bank and the stabbing attacks began. Both Israel and the Palestinian authorities have accused one another of doing nothing to protect each other's communities.

Is this a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising?

There have been two organised uprisings by Palestinians against Israeli occupation, in the 1980s and early 2000s. With peace talks moribund, some observers have questioned whether we are now seeing a third. The stabbing attacks seem to be opportunistic and although they have been praised by militant groups, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said Palestinians are not interested in a further escalation.