Updated May 30th, 2020 at 13:04 IST

Israeli police kill Palestinian suspect in Jerusalem

Israeli police say they shot dead a Palestinian they suspected was carrying a weapon near Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday.

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Israeli police say they shot dead a Palestinian they suspected was carrying a weapon near Jerusalem's Old City on Saturday.

The police say he was carrying “a suspicious object that looked like a pistol” and ran away when ordered to stop. The police say they chased him on foot and opened fire.

A police spokesman did not immediately respond when asked whether the man was in fact carrying a gun.

The shooting came a day after Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank who they said had tried to ram them with his vehicle. No Israelis were wounded in either incident.

Tensions have risen in recent weeks as Israel has pressed ahead with plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank in line with President Donald Trump's Middle East plan, which strongly favors Israel and was rejected by the Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority said last week that it was no longer bound by past agreements with Israel and the United States and was cutting off all ties, including longstanding security coordination.

Saturday's shooting occurred in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 war along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.

The Trump plan would allow the Palestinians to establish a capital on the outskirts of the city, beyond Israel's separation barrier. It would grant them limited statehood in a cluster of enclaves surrounded by Israel.

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Published May 30th, 2020 at 13:04 IST