Jerusalem on edge after car attack as extremists plan march

Jewish extremist groups planned to march through Jerusalem Nov. 6 in a move expected to stoke tensions following a deadly Palestinian car attack and clashes at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
     
Israeli police set up concrete barriers and roadblocks in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, a day after a Palestinian deliberately ran over two groups of pedestrians, killing a policeman, in the second such attack in a fortnight.       

Hours later, another Palestinian ran over three Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank, leaving one in serious condition and hiking Israeli fears of a wave of copycat hit-and-run attacks.        

But the 23-year-old driver, who comes from a village near Hebron, turned himself in on Thursday morning, insisting it was nothing more than a road accident, his family told AFP.
      
Jerusalem has been on edge for months, with almost nightly clashes in Arab neighbourhoods since the brutal summer murder of a Palestinian teenager by Jewish extremists.
      
Wednesday's attack -- in which the driver was shot dead by police -- sparked a fresh wave of rioting.
     
The worst unrest took place in Shuafat refugee camp where the driver, Ibrahim al-Akari, lived, but there were also clashes in Issawiya and Silwan, an AFP correspondent reported.        

During the night, police arrested 16 Palestinians for public order offences but by morning, the city was calm, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.        

Police set up roadblocks in flashpoint Palestinian neighbourhoods and deployed reinforcements at key road junctions.
      
They also began installing concrete barricades at the 24 stops along Jerusalem's 14-kilometre (nine mile) light railway.