A Palestinian woman said to be the mother of a man killed last year attempted to stab Israeli police at the entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City Wednesday before being shot dead, officials said.
The woman pulled a knife on the security force members at the entrance to Damascus Gate but was shot dead before she was able to stab anyone, a police spokeswoman said in a statement.
Photos posted on social media showed the apparently middle-aged woman lying face down after the attack outside the gate, a main entrance to the Old City.
A number of other entrances to the Old City, a key tourist attraction, were also sealed off, media reported.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the dead woman as Siham Nimr, 49, from the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem.
The Palestinian official news agency said she was the mother of Mustafa Nimr, a 27-year-old shot dead by Israeli police in September.
Police initially claimed he was an attacker, but later admitted that was untrue.
A wave of violence that broke out in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 258 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count.
Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to Israeli authorities. Others died during protests, clashes or in Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip.
Violence has subsided in recent months, despite sporadic attacks.
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