Two Israelis have been killed and three injured in separate attacks in Jerusalem by Palestinians who were then shot dead by police. Police have now banned Palestinians from East Jerusalem from entering the Old City for two days. The latest violence comes two days after an Israeli couple were shot dead in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to hold emergency talks with security officials on Sunday. The restrictions will stop Palestinians from entering the Old City unless they live there. But Israelis, local business owners and schoolchildren will be allowed in. The first stabbing incident took place on Saturday. just after the end of the Jewish Sabbath, close to Lion's Gate in the Old City. The victims were said to have been passing near the entrance of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, en route to the Western Wall. Jerusalem police chief Moshe Edri said a Palestinian man had "stabbed an Israeli man, his wife and the toddler" several times in an alleyway before stabbing another man. Both Israeli men had died of their wounds, he said, adding that the mother and the child had suffered serious injuries. 'Explosive situation' Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the Palestinian attacker had taken a gun from one of the wounded men and opened fire at police and tourists. He was then shot and killed by an Israeli police officer who had rushed to the scene. Police later identified the attacker as a 19-year-old from al-Bireh, near Ramallah in the West Bank. The militant group Islamic Jihad issued a statement claiming him as one of its members. In the second incident, the Palestinian man stabbed the teenager on a street in West Jerusalem in the early hours of Sunday. The attacker was also shot dead by police, similar to the earlier incident on Sunday. There has been a recent flare-up in tensions between Israel and Palestinians, with violent confrontations between security forces and Palestinian youths in a compound holy to both Jews and Muslims in East Jerusalem. Earlier this week, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that Israel risked creating "an explosive situation" in Jerusalem and the West Bank with its use of "brutal force". In his address to the UN chamber on Thursday, Mr Netanyahu called on Mr Abbas to "stop spreading lies" and return to peace talks.
