Two Israeli Women Wounded in Jerusalem Stabbing Attack

Israeli police say two masked assailants attacked two women, who were walking in a park in the outskirts of Jerusalem, with knives on Tuesday, injuring them. The police have launched an operation to identify and arrest the attackers. According to the Associated Press, a police spokesperson stated that the two women, who are around 70 years old, were attacked from behind near the 'Peace Forest' and were taken to the hospital due to minor injuries. After establishing checkpoints and searching an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, two men were arrested, but they were quickly released. Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem, which typically involve knives and sometimes shooting at people or running over pedestrians with vehicles, have been occurring for about eight months, resulting in the deaths of 28 Israelis and two Americans. During the same period, around 200 Palestinians have been killed, with Israeli sources claiming most were attackers, while some were killed in clashes with Israeli forces. Recently, violent clashes have also occurred at the Gaza borders. Palestinian militants have targeted Israeli territory with mortars, and in response, Israeli planes and tanks have attacked Gaza. Israel has also discovered two underground tunnels dug from the coastal areas of Gaza into Israeli territory. The Israeli army announced on Tuesday that they arrested a member of Hamas who provided information about the group's tunnel network. According to the Israeli army, the arrest of another Hamas member last week revealed more details about these tunnels. In the 2014 50-day war between Israel and Hamas forces, about 2,200 Palestinians were killed, two-thirds of whom were civilians. In contrast, 66 soldiers and seven Israeli civilians were killed in these conflicts. In the final weeks of the 2014 war, Israel destroyed over 30 tunnels that Hamas had dug under the border areas. Hamas militants used these tunnels to infiltrate Israeli territory and carry out their attacks. As a result of heavy Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip, several residential neighborhoods were leveled, and over 11,000 homes were destroyed. Tens of thousands of Gaza residents remain homeless. Didier Reynders, the Belgian Foreign Minister, described the reconstruction of Gaza as 'very slow' during his visit on Tuesday and urged Israel to allow more construction materials to be transferred to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government claims that the volume of goods transferred to Gaza has gradually increased since the end of the 2014 war. The Belgian Foreign Minister also called on both Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.