Israel, Palestinians Caught in Escalating Cycle of Violence in Jerusalem and West Bank

JENIN, West Bank—A recent spiral of violence between Israel and the Palestinians is worsening after two gun attacks in Jerusalem and a wave of Israeli raids in the West Bank.

The deteriorating situation has raised concern among world leaders and poses the first major security test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s new right-wing and religiously conservative government, which came to power last year amid an aggressive military campaign to weed out militants in the occupied West Bank. Since then, near-daily raids by Israeli security forces have led to a rising Palestinian death toll. A spate of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel threatens to cause further instability ahead of a Monday visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the latest U.S. official to head to Jerusalem in recent days.