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200,000 pray at Jerusalem mosque after stabbing attack

More than 200,000 Muslims took part in the final Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of occupied east Jerusalem, as Israel heightened security following a Palestinian stabbing attack.

The religious authority in charge of the compound, the third holiest site in Islam, said in total 260,000 worshipers took part in the midday prayers.

The prayers came only hours after a Palestinian teenager stabbed two Israelis inside the Old City before being shot dead by Israeli security.

In a separate incident, another Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank as he sought to sneak into Jerusalem, reportedly to pray at Al-Aqsa.

In Jerusalem itself, a 19-year-old Palestinian stabbed one Israeli near the Damascus Gate and another near Jaffa Gate on the other side of the walled Old City, police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

"Police units that responded at the scene saw the attacker with a knife. The attacker was shot and killed," Rosenfeld said.

The Palestinian health ministry later named him as Yusef Wajih from Abwein village in the central West Bank.

A video released by police showed a man running through the streets and stabbing two Orthodox Jews.

One of the Israeli wounded was a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed at the exit of a synagogue. A photograph of the teenager in a hospital bed was released by a government spokesman.

The other victim, a 47-year-old man, was in serious condition, according to the hospital.

The Old City has been the scene of numerous stabbings of Israelis by Palestinian assailants in recent years, though a relative calm has existed for several months.

After the latest attack, gates to the Old City were briefly sealed before being reopened as thousands thronged towards the mosque.

Inside the mostly uncovered mosque compound, water was sprayed on worshipers to keep them cool in the baking Jerusalem sun, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius.

Despite a heavy police presence, there were no reports of further incidents.

Rosenfeld said increased security presence would "continue throughout the afternoon and evening."

Agence France Presse
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