Israeli border policemen fire tear gas during a confrontation in the Old City of Jerusalem.

An 18-year-old Palestinian woman stabbed an Israeli near a contested shrine in Jerusalem on Wednesday and was then shot and wounded by the injured man, Israeli police said, the third knife attack in the city in less than a week.

Police said the attacker struck in an alleyway near the Western Wall, a Jewish prayer site abutting the al-Aqsa mosque complex.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the 35-year-old victim was armed and managed to draw his gun when she stabbed him in the back.

Also on Wednesday, Israeli police shot dead an Arab man in central Israel after he allegedly wounded a soldier with a knife and took his weapon, authorities said.

The soldier suffered a wound to the hand and was robbed of his gun in Kiryat Gat, while the alleged attacker hid in a building, where he was shot dead by police, the military and police said.

As a result of recent clashes and attacks, Israeli border police have shut the gates to the Old City as of Wednesday noon, according to Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent on the ground.

West Bank violence

In a separate incident, Jewish settlers shot and seriously wounded a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank early on Wednesday, the Red Crescent and witnesses said.

The 18-year-old was in intensive care but in a stable condition after the shooting east of Bethlehem. Israeli police confirmed that a Palestinian had been wounded when shots were fired in response to stone throwing but did not say who fired them.

The shooting happened on a section of road linking two Jewish settlements that passes close to the Palestinian town of Beit Sahir and has been the scene of frequent clashes between settlers and Palestinians.

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