Israeli-Palestinian Clashes, Three Attacks Rock West Bank

New violence erupted in the West Bank Thursday, with three Palestinian attackers shot dead as they carried out stabbings and a car ramming and another killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers.

The upsurge came after nearly three months of attacks and protests but with the violence having become less frequent in recent weeks.

The ongoing unrest has led to a sharp decrease in pilgrims traveling to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, where the Bible says Jesus was born, for Christmas Eve celebrations and the traditional midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity.

Early on Thursday, a Palestinian stabbed two security guards at an entrance to an industrial zone at the Jewish settlement of Ariel, the largest in the north of the occupied West Bank, before being shot dead.

Both of the victims suffered moderate wounds, police said.

The assailant was identified as Mohammed Zahran, 23, from the nearby village of Kafr Addik.

Later, a Palestinian tried to attack soldiers with a screwdriver at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Hebron and was shot dead. The Palestinian health ministry identified him as Iyad Idaissat, 25, from the village of Yatta.

A third incident saw a Palestinian shot dead attempting to ram his car into a military post near the Adam junction northeast of Jerusalem, the army said.

Bilal Zayd, 23, was from the Qalandiya refugee camp between Jerusalem and Ramallah, where clashes broke out Thursday between Israeli security forces and Palestinians.

Israeli forces were said to have entered the camp to arrest three suspects, local officials said. Seven people were wounded, including two from gunshots to the head, according to camp official Jamal Lafi said.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said the forces were "assaulted by a violent mob" of Palestinians shooting at them and throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and explosive devices.

"The force responded to the immediate danger and fired toward the gunmen. Hits were confirmed," she said.

A wave of violence since the start of October has claimed the lives of 129 on the Palestinian side, 19 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.

Many of the Palestinians killed have been attackers while others have been shot dead by Israeli security forces during clashes.

A number of them have attempted attacks with kitchen knives in what some analysts have described as virtual suicide missions.

Palestinians have grown frustrated with Israel's occupation, the complete lack of progress in peace efforts and their own fractured leadership.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities said they had opened an investigation into a video showing gun-wielding Jewish extremists at a wedding celebrating the death of a Palestinian toddler in a firebombing.

The video, broadcast by an Israeli news program, has spread online and drawn strong condemnation from politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It shows guests at the wedding of a radical right-wing couple dancing with guns, knives and at least one unlit Molotov cocktail, while also stabbing a picture of the toddler killed in a firebombing blamed on Jewish extremists.

That attack killed 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha, and fatally injured his parents. The toddler's four-year-old brother was the sole survivor from the immediate family.

Palestinians have often highlighted the lack of progress in the case as one of the causes of the wave of attacks targeting Israelis that began on October 1.

In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have arrested a number of suspected Jewish extremists over the July 31 firebombing in the West Bank village of Duma, though no one has been charged.

Their detentions have sparked anger among far-right Israelis who have held several protests, including outside the home of a judge, while lawyers have alleged torture of suspects by the domestic security agency, Shin Bet.

The firebombing drew renewed attention to Jewish extremism and accusations Israel had not done enough to prevent such violence.

Young Jewish men from wildcat settlement outposts in the West Bank and known as the "hilltop youth" have been blamed for violence and vandalism targeting Palestinians, Christian holy sites and even Israeli military property.