World
Increasing strife over Jerusalem's most volatile holy site plunged relations between Israel and Jordan into crisis on Wednesday, with Amman recalling its ambassador for the first time since the countries' 1994 peace treaty. Reuters writes:
In a sign of tensions, a Palestinian rammed his car into pedestrians in Jerusalem's city center on Wednesday, killing an Israeli paramilitary border policeman before he was shot dead by police.
More than a dozen people were injured. In a second attack later, a van driven by a Palestinian hit three soldiers in the occupied West Bank. One was seriously injured and two others suffered moderate wounds, an Israeli ambulance service spokesman and police said.
Security camera footage showed the large van plow into the three soldiers at speed. Police said the van escaped the scene and a search had been mounted.
The earlier car attack in Jerusalem occurred after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at the entrance to the 8th-century al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third most sacred place.
Palestinian officials said Israeli forces had crossed the threshold of the mosque for the first time since 1967.
Israeli police denied going into the house of worship. Just as Israel was grappling with the second deadly Palestinian attack in Jerusalem in two weeks and the risk of a third Palestinian uprising, Jordan added a new dimension to the conflict by recalling its envoy.
A Palestinian driver has rammed a car into several pedestrians in Jerusalem, killing a policeman, hours after clashes at the city's holiest site. The BBC writes:
Officials say 13 people were injured. The driver was shot dead by police. Hamas militants said they carried out the attack. Israel's prime minister said it was a result of "incitement" by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.
A similar car attack by a Palestinian took place in the same area two weeks ago which left a woman and a baby dead. In a separate development later on Wednesday, a Palestinian motorist drove into a group of soldiers in the southern West Bank, injuring three of them.
The incident happened near a Palestinian refugee camp, Israeli police said. Meanwhile Jordan has recalled its ambassador to Israel over what it called the "unprecedented Israeli escalation" at holy and sensitive sites in Jerusalem.
Access has recently been restricted to the al-Haram al-Sharif compound, where the al-Aqsa Mosque is located - the third holiest site in Islam. The compound - known to Jews as the Temple Mount - is also the holiest site in Judaism.
