Leaders within the Islamic State terrorist group have urged Palestinians to continue their attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in a disturbing new video released on social media.
In the video, which was released Monday afternoon, a masked jihadist fighter encourages Palestinians to carry out their attacks using every means at their disposal, including knives, vehicles, poison and explosives, Fox News reports.
"Jihad should not be a reaction that may soon fade away. You should use explosive devices and booby-traps in addition to hitting them (Israelis) with cars and stabbing," the fighter said.
The masked fighter also applauded Palestinians who are currently attacking Israelis, describing them as "lone wolves who refused to be subdued and spread fear among the sons of Zion."
The video comes amid escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence, which has seen the deaths of 41 Palestinians, including assailants and demonstrators at anti-Israeli protests, eight Israelis and one Eritrean migrant, who was mistaken for an attacker, according to Reuters.
While tension between the two groups is decades old, the latest upsurge in violence started with two Israelis being stabbed to death by a Palestinian in Jerusalem earlier this month, quickly spreading the bloodshed across Israel and into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The violence was sparked in part by Palestinians' anger over what they see as increased Jewish encroachment on Temple Mount in the Old City, known to Muslims as the Haram Al-Sharif and revered by Jews as the location of two destroyed biblical temples. The compound has long been under Muslim religious administration, and Jews are permitted to visit the site but not pray there, according to CNN.
In recent years, hardline Jewish activists have demanded greater access to the area, and right-wing politicians have called for rights of Jews to pray there, sparking concerns among Palestinians that Temple Mount will be divided.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, due to hold separate meetings this week with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, said it was vital they clarify the status around the compound to help end the ongoing bloodshed and restore stability.
"Israel understands the importance of the status quo and ... our objective is to make sure that everyone understands what that means," Kerry told a news conference in Madrid.
He emphasized that "Israel has every right in the world to protect itself," but said "we want to see calm restored and we want to see violence stop."
Also on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud faction that the current wave of Palestinian violence is the result of social media sites -- Facebook in particular.
He explained that Israeli security officials were aware of the major impact of incitement garnered from social media, because of what terrorists who attacked Jews over the past few weeks have written on their private Facebook pages.
"What has been going on is due to the combination of the Internet and Islamic extremism," Netanyahu said, the Jerusalem Post reports. "It has been Osama Bin Laden meets [Facebook founder] Mark Zuckerberg."
Netanyahu said Israel was in "a lengthy struggle" and expressed full confidence that the Jewish state would win. However, he urged citizens to respect the law and refrain from taking it into their own hands.
