Knife-wielding Palestinians allegedly attack school bus

BEIT SHEMESH , Israel, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Two knife-wielding Palestinians were shot -- one of whom was killed -- by police Thursday after allegedly attempting to board a school bus full of children in Beit Shemesh, Israel.

The incident, west of Jerusalem, was the latest in a wave of violence in Israel and the West Bank in recent weeks. Eight Israelis and dozens of Palestinians have been killed in isolated stabbings and shootings as ethnic and religious tensions boil over.

Police said the attackers allegedly attempted to enter the bus but were forced back by the shouts and actions of those aboard, who suspected them of preparing to commit an act of terrorism. The two men then stabbed a man at a bus stop, police spokesman Luba Samri said, and were shot by police.

One of the attackers later died after he was hospitalized. The stabbing victim was also hospitalized but survived. Police said the attackers wore shirts bearing the emblem of the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Israelis have blamed Palestinian officials of inciting the incidents of violence. Palestinians say the heavy security presence in primality Palestinian East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and recently enacted limitations on visits to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, a Muslim holy site, are to blame.

Attempts at a diplomatic solution are underway. Earlier this week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made separate visits to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, urging both sides to reduce tensions.

Thursday U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Netanyahu in Berlin.

"We had an attack in which two terrorists tried to murder a bus full of school children," Netanyahu said in remarks prior to his meeting with Kerry. "There is no question that this wave of attacks is driven directly by incitement -- incitement from Hamas; incitement from the Islamist movement in Islam; and incitement, I am sorry to say, from President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.

"I think it's time for the international community to say clearly to President Abbas: Stop spreading lies about Israel, lies that Israel wants to change the status quo on the Temple Mount, lies that Israel wants to tear down the al-Aqsa Mosque, and lies that Israel is executing Palestinians. All of that is false. We remain committed to the status quo, we are the ones that protect all the holy sites, and Israel is acting to protect its citizens as any democracy would in the face of such wanton and relentless attacks."

Kerry said it takes more than rhetoric to stop the violence in the region.

"It is absolutely critical to end all incitement and all violence, and to find a road forward to build the possibility that is not there today for a larger process," he said.