World Bulletin/News Desk

Israeli police said Sunday that it detained two Palestinians for attempting to stab an Israeli settler near the French Hill neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

An Israeli youth reported to the police that two Palestinians on a motorbike had tried to stab him near the French Hill neighborhood, Israeli police said in a statement that was broadcasted by local media.

Two 16-year-old Palestinians were arrested in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi al-Joz, and were referred to investigation by Israeli security after a knife was found in their possession, Israeli police has said.

Tension has run high in East Jerusalem since late last month, when Israel briefly closed the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after an extremist rabbi was shot and injured by a Palestinian man in West Jerusalem.

The shooting suspect was subsequently killed by Israeli forces in a raid on his East Jerusalem home.

Since then, several Israelis have been killed and injured in a spate of attacks by Palestinians – both inside Israel and in the occupied territories.

Further aggravating the situation, a handful of Israeli MPs and scores of Jewish settlers have forced their way into the mosque complex in recent weeks, drawing the ire of Muslim worshippers and official condemnation from Arab and Muslim countries.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon triggered what later became known as the "Second Intifada," a popular uprising against Israel's decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.