Israeli police say they ‘neutralised’ a man after he allegedly attempted to carry out stabbing attack in the Old City.

A Palestinian man has been shot dead by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem‘s Old City after he allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack. 

Witnesses told Maan news agency that Israeli security guards shot the man, who was later pronounced dead at the scene near the entrance of Bab Hutta, just outside the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, in a brief statement, said its teams were prevented from entering the vicinity of Bab Hutta to treat the man before he succumbed to his wounds. 

Local media reports identified the Palestinian as a 30-year-old man from the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.

The man was “neutralised”, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld wrote on Twitter. “Officer taken to hospital in moderate condition,” he added.

The incident came hours after Israeli security guards shot and wounded a deaf Palestinian who was not able to hear the orders to stop at an occupied West Bank checkpoint.

In late May, Israeli police shot dead an unarmed 32-year-old Palestinian with severe autism who was on his way to his special needs school in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The man was chased by Israeli border police forces into a nook in the Old City and shot as he cowered next to a rubbish bin after apparently being mistaken for an attacker.

Palestinians and human rights groups have long accused Israeli security forces of using excessive force.

The Old City and other parts of East Jerusalem, which Palestinian leaders seek for a future independent state, have seen a rise in tensions since US President Donald Trump released his so-called Middle East plan earlier this year.

Palestinian anger has also flared in recent days after Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalise relations, a move many Palestinians saw as a betrayal of their cause by the Gulf country.

Israel and the UAE agreed on Thursday to establish diplomatic relations in a United States-brokered deal, according to which Israel had agreed to halt annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later said he had only agreed to “delay” the annexation, and that he would “never give up our rights to our land”.

Jared Kushner, senior White House adviser and Trump’s son-in-law, told reporters on Monday that the US will not consent to Israeli annexations in the West Bank for “some time”.

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