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Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in Jerusalem and Gaza

Israel's army killed at least 183 Palestinian protesters and wounded thousands more since protests in Gaza began on 30 March
Israeli military police prevent people from leaving Damascus Gate following an alleged stabbing attempt nearby (AFP)

A Palestinian was killed on Tuesday by Israeli military police in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City after an alleged attempted stabbing attack, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

A police statement reported "an attempted stabbing attack" near Damascus Gate in Al-Musrara neighbourhood. The Palestinian health ministry said they were informed of the death of a civilian by live ammunition.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli forces prevented them from rescuing the man, who has not yet been identified. Video footage shared on social media show the man laying on the ground surrounded by Israeli forces.

Palestinian witnesses told AFP that the alleged attacker was not trying to stab anyone, but was rather "defending himself" from a Jewish Israeli civilian.

A wave of Palestinian knife attacks against Israeli soldiers, police and civilians broke out in 2015, but they have since become sporadic.

On Sunday, a young Palestinian fatally stabbed an Israeli-American settler near the entrance to a mall in the occupied West Bank before being shot and wounded.

Protest at Erez military checkpoint

On Tuesday evening, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The two men, Mohammed Abu Naji, 34, and a second man who was not immediately identified, were shot during a protest near Erez military checkpoint, north of Gaza Strip.

Earlier on Tuesday, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on the Gaza border. Israel claimed they had planted a suspicious object next to the fence separating it from Gaza.

Palestinians have been protesting in the Gaza Strip since 30 March as part of the Great March of Return.

The protest campaign calls for an end to the 11-year Israeli blockade on Gaza and for Palestinian refugees' right of return to the lands that their families fled during the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

Since the demonstrations began on 30 March, the Israeli army has killed at least 183 Palestinian protesters and wounded thousands more, according to Gaza's health ministry.

One Israeli soldier has been killed.

Israel maintains a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip, which critics say amounts to collective punishment of the impoverished enclave's two million residents.

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