Gunman kills Israeli soldier as diplomats seek calm

Israeli policemen detain a Palestinian protester during clashes near the Jewish settlement of Bet El, near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 18, 2015. REUTERS photo

Israel was to voice its opposition Oct. 19 to French proposals to send international observers to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the latest in a diplomatic push to quell fears over a full-blown Palestinian uprising.

The international efforts follow more than two weeks of near-relentless violence that has seen 41 Palestinians killed, including alleged assailants, while eight Israelis have died. Most of the attackers have been young Palestinians wielding knives and believed to be acting on their own.
 
In the latest unrest, an Israeli soldier was killed on Oct. 18 in a shooting at a bus station in the southern city of Beersheba, the first such attack after a day in which violence seemed to somewhat ebb.
 
Police said a man, thought to be Palestinian, entered the bus station armed with a pistol and knife, killing the soldier and wounding 10 other people, including four officers.
 
The gunman himself was then killed and an African bystander was shot by security forces who mistook him for a second gunman.
 
The identity of the assailant was not immediately known, and there was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
 
But it was praised by militant groups in Gaza, with Hamas calling it a "natural response" and Islamic Jihad saying it was a "normal answer to Israeli crimes".
         
Diplomatic moves to halt the more than two weeks of unrelenting violence gained steam, meanwhile, with US Secretary of State John Kerry saying he planned to meet both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming days.
 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, rejected an idea from France that would see international observers sent to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
 
Clashes at the...

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