DHAKA: Israel has rejected a Palestinian plea to the United Nations for an international force to police the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

The Israeli rejection of the plan was followed by two more incidents early on Saturday in which Palestinians were killed after allegedly trying to stab Israeli citizens, Al Jazeera reports.

‘An international presence on the Temple Mount (al-Aqsa Mosque compound) would violate the status quo of the last several decades,’ Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said on Friday.

‘Israel does not think international intervention (in) the Temple Mount would be helpful or contribute to stability,’ Danon added.

Tensions boiled over into violence earlier this month as Israeli incursions into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound - the third holiest site in Islam - gave way to protests and clashes that have consumed much of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

In East Jerusalem on Saturday, one Palestinian was shot and killed after attempting to stab an Israeli citizen, according to Israeli police.

In a separate incident in Hebron, the army said an Israeli settler opened fire on a Palestinian man after an alleged stabbing attempt.

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Jerusalem, said the circumstances of the killings were unclear.

‘The Palestinian man in Hebron allegedly attempted to attack a settler before being shot and killed by police.’

BDST: 1527 HRS, OCT 17, 2015
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** Israel-Palestinian violence flares