Israeli police stand guard near the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City, on March 7, 2022. Israeli police said on Monday that they shot dead a man who stabbed two police officers in East Jerusalem.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Israeli police stand guard near the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City, on March 7, 2022. Israeli police said on Monday that they shot dead a man who stabbed two police officers in East Jerusalem.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Israeli police work at the scene of a stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City, on March 7, 2022. Israeli police said on Monday that they shot dead a man who stabbed two police officers in East Jerusalem. (Photo: Xinhua)

 
Israeli police said on Monday that they shot dead a man who stabbed two police officers in East Jerusalem.

The incident took place near the Cotton Merchants' Gate, known as Bab al-Qattanin to the Arabs, outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint site holy to both Muslims and Jews in the Old City of East Jerusalem, according to a police statement.

The knife-wielding man stormed at two police officers stationed near the site and stabbed them, the statement said, adding that in response, other policemen fired at and killed the suspect.

The two officers, aged 20 and 24 respectively, sustained moderate injuries, according to a separate statement issued by the national Magen David Adom emergency health service.

After the incident, the police blocked roads in the vicinity of the site of the attack.

It was the second stabbing attack in East Jerusalem over the past two days. On Sunday, a Palestinian stabbed an Israeli policeman and lightly wounded him. The suspect, a 19-year-old from East Jerusalem, was also shot dead by police officers at the scene.

Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the rest of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed East Jerusalem in a move condemned by most of the international community.

The Palestinians seek to establish an independent state covering the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Last round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians broke down in 2014 after nine months of efforts.