The Israeli army said early Saturday that the attackers arrived at the entrance to the Ariel settlement and shot the guard in his place before leaving the area. The army began pursuing the suspects in the West Bank. In a separate incident, Israeli troops shot and killed a 27-year-old Palestinian man during clashes in the village of Azoun near the city of Qalqilya early Saturday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. A series of Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank over the past two months have left 14 Israelis dead. Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, has praised the attack but has not claimed responsibility. “The operation proves that the revolution is raging across the West Bank,” said spokesman Hazem Qassem. “This is a practical application of our people ‘s statement that Jerusalem is a red line.” Tensions escalated this month at an important shrine in Jerusalem, with Palestinian worshipers clashing daily with Israeli police. The site contains the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, and a growing number of Palestinians go there to pray during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Earlier on Friday, Palestinians threw stones and Israeli police fired rubber bullets at the scene of a wave of unrest in recent weeks. Police say the Palestinians in the Al-AQSA mosque began to launch stones and fireworks around Dawn in the direction of a strictly guarded gate leading to the western wall, the most sacred place where Jews can pray. Police went on to the band, launching bullets with elastic investment. The violence ended about an hour later, after other Palestinians in the group intervened, persuading the stoners and police to withdraw. The Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency Service said more than 40 people had been injured and 22 needed to be treated in local hospitals. He said Israeli forces had prevented the first responders from entering the compound during the clashes and that one of his doctors had been beaten by police. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said in a statement that they had arrested three people. The Al-Aqsa Mosque complex is built on top of a hill which is the holiest site for the Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the site of Jewish temples in antiquity. It has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In recent weeks, Israeli police and Palestinians have clashed on several occasions. Israeli authorities accuse Hamas of inciting violence and say security forces were forced to intervene to stop the stoning. Palestinians say the presence of Israeli police in the area and the regular visits by increasing numbers of nationalists and religious Jews violate the decades-long informal arrangements that have governed the area. Visits stopped last week for the last 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends this weekend.
