Security Forces on High Alert in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israel Police and Border Police stepped up their presence in Jerusalem on the last Friday of Ramadan.

There are plenty of police at flash points, such as the Temple Mount and the capital's Arab neighborhoods, but more uniformed officers than usual can be seen all around town. There are probably some undercover security personnel as well.

Meanwhile, more stabbing attacks took place Thursday afternoon, following the morning's deadly attack on a 13-year-old girl with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship in Kiryat Arba near Hebron.

In Netanya on the Mediterranean coast, two Israelis are in serious condition after a knife attack Thursday.

Israeli forces at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron shot and killed a knife-wielding Arab woman who attacked a Border Policeman on Friday. She was from the same Arab village as the man who stabbed 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel to death in her bed on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, in the P.A.-controlled city of Tulkarem, Arabs threw rocks and pipe bombs at IDF soldiers. Similar incidents at the Kalandia checkpoint erupted into a full-fledged riot.  

Overnight Thursday, Israeli security forces took 10 suspects affiliated with Hamas into custody.

Friday afternoon brought yet another tragedy. An Arab terrorist opened fire on a family traveling on Route 60 south of Hebron, causing the car to overturn. The father was killed and his wife seriously injured by gunshot wounds to her head and upper body. Their 14-year-old son sustained moderate injuries and the baby lighter injuries in the crash.

Many believe Hamas, the Palestinian faction that wrested control of the Gaza Strip 10 years ago from the Palestinian Authority, has a strong interest in toppling 81-year-old P.A. Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whose four-year term as president expired on January 9, 2009.