4 Palestinians killed in flare-up as Israel counts votes

By JALAL BWAITEL and TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli and Palestinian officials say at least four Palestinians have been killed in separate incidents. The dead include one who had stabbed a police officer in east Jerusalem and three others in Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank. Violence Thursday was flaring as Israel tallies the final votes in national elections held this week, with former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected to lead a comfortable majority backed by far-right allies. Early Friday, Israeli aircraft attacked Gaza in response to earlier rocket fire. The violence was latest in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and Jerusalem that has killed more than 130 Palestinians this year, making 2022 the deadliest year since the U.N. started tracking fatalities in 2005.