Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz is threatening to launch new military operations against Palestinians after four people were killed in two weekend attacks in Jerusalem.
A Palestinian man with a knife fatally stabbed two Israelis on Saturday night (local time) in the Old City.
Only hours later, another man stabbed a 15-year-old, who was then taken to the hospital.
Both Palestinian attackers were shot dead by police.
"We will sharpen our measures against the Palestinians," Katz told Israel's army broadcaster on Sunday.
Israel has banned West Bank Palestinians from entering Jerusalem's Old City for the next two days.
Tension rose further overnight, as the Israeli military said that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired at least one rocket toward southern Israel. There was no immediate report of casualties, military spokesman Peter Lerner said late Sunday on Twitter.
There have been increasing clashes between Israelis and Palestinians amid a rift over the use of the Temple Mount/Noble Sanctuary, which lies in the Old City. The contested site is sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians alike.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the Jerusalem attacks as escalating, dangerous actions.
The European Union on Sunday called for all sides to exercise restraint after the "brutal attacks" which are "not only intended to cause human suffering, but also to undermine the prospects for peace".
According to Palestinian media, a series of arrests by Israeli forces in the city of Jenin in the northern West Bank left more than 30 Palestinians injured. Two terror suspects were arrested in the operation.
An Israeli couple was killed Thursday in front of their four children in a West Bank attack allegedly carried out by a Palestinian.
DPA
