Israeli security forces dispatched to Tekoa in the West Bank on May 8, 2022. Photo: IDF

Israel continued grappling with a renewed wave of terrorism on Sunday evening, as an officer was stabbed by a Palestinian assailant in Jerusalem shortly before another armed Palestinian was shot dead in Tekoa.

The first incident took place around 7:45 pm, when a Palestinian man approached Damascus Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, police said. The assailant, identified as a 19-year-old who entered Israel illegally, raised the suspicion of nearby border police officers before charging at them with two knives.

One officer was stabbed in the neck during the altercation, which lasted for several seconds before the terrorist was shot and neutralized. The injured officer was evacuated to the hospital in moderate condition.

Also on Sunday evening, a Palestinian terrorist armed with a knife entered Tekoa in the West Bank before being shot and neutralized by a civilian, the Israeli military said. The assailant, a 17-year-old male from the nearby town of Harmala, had attempted to break into a house, local media reported.

Soldiers were dispatched to the scene and are looking for additional suspects, according to the military.

Earlier on Sunday, the military said it identified a Palestinian man who attempted to illegally cross the security barrier near the West Bank city of Tulkarm. After the suspect, who is originally from the Gaza Strip, did not respond to the soldiers, they opened fire in an effort to stop him, local media reported. The man was evacuated to a hospital and declared dead.

Israel has in recent weeks faced a surge of terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinian and Arab Israeli perpetrators. On Thursday, two Palestinian men armed with axes and knives stabbed civilians in a park in the central Israeli city of Elad. Three young fathers were murdered in the attack, and multiple others injured. Israeli security forces arrested two suspects on Sunday.