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Israeli Police Mistakenly Shoot, Kill Eritrean Migrant


An injured man receives treatment at the Beersheba central bus station, where a Palestinian gunman went on a stabbing and shooting rampage, October 18, 2015.
An injured man receives treatment at the Beersheba central bus station, where a Palestinian gunman went on a stabbing and shooting rampage, October 18, 2015.

An Eritrean migrant has died after being shot Sunday by Israeli police after another man killed an Israeli soldier and wounded 10 other people in a stabbing attack.

Police said an officer shot the Eritrean after mistaking him as a second attacker. Media reports say the man was also beaten by an Israeli mob at the scene.

Israeli security officials identified the man who carried out the stabbings as a 21-year-old Arab Israeli who did not have a past record of militant activity.

The attack at the main bus station in Beersheba was the single bloodiest incident in more than two weeks of violence against Israelis that has left eight Israelis and 41 Palestinians dead.​

Israeli border police check Palestinian's IDs at a checkpoint as they exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015.
Israeli border police check Palestinian's IDs at a checkpoint as they exit the Arab neighborhood of Issawiyeh in Jerusalem, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015.

US calls for restraint

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for restraint Monday as he prepares to meet separately this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"We want to see calm restored and we want to see the violence stop, and I think everybody in Israel and in the region would like to see both of those things happen," Kerry said.

He added that Israel has "every right in the world" to protect its people from random violence.

The wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis began when rumors swept through the Palestinian areas that Israel was planning to take over an east Jerusalem holy site sacred to Muslims and Jews.

Muslims call it the al-Aqsa mosque and Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount.

Kerry said Monday Israel has made it clear to him they have no intention of changing the long-standing rules of who can and cannot worship at the holy site.

Hamas blamed

Israel is blaming Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and a group called the Islamic Movement of spreading lies about Israel and inciting youths to riot.

But Palestinians are already fed up with a dim outlook for peace, a lack of economic opportunity, and Jewish settlement activity in lands they want for a future state.

Israel says the settlements are necessary for its security and that there can be no peace until the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist.

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