“An aging president with no heir apparent, a government long past its expiration date, and an ever-tightening Israeli occupation have Palestinians worried for the future,” Dalia Hatuqa writes.

Four Israelis have been killed and several others injured in a shooting near Israel’s defence ministry and main army headquarters in Tel Aviv, police say. The incident happened on Wednesday night at the Sarona Market, an area with restaurants and cafes.

Labour Mayor Ron Huldai, 71, told Israeli army radio that the occupation was to blame for Wednesday evening’s attack when two armed Palestinian men from near Hebron in the southern West Bank walked into a popular cafe and opened fire on revellers.

The general statement from the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinian presidency “reaffirms its rejection of all operations that target civilians from any background regardless of the justifications.”

Hamas said in a statement released after two Palestinian gunmen carried out the attack at the Sarona Market food and retail center Wednesday that the incident “is the first of many surprises that will be waiting” for Israel in the next month. The group stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack.

“Having a daily routine to go back to that is free of violence is a privilege that most Israelis have and most Palestinians do not,” writes Mairav Zonszein.

‘Life in the Yatta village won’t carry on as usual. A village that has terrorists leaving from its midst will pay the price,’ says Deputy Defense Minister Ben-Dahan.

B’Tselem has announced it will stop referring complaints by Palestinians to the IDF for investigation, and urges Palestinians to stop filing complaints too. Eylon Aslan-Levy spoke to B’Tselem’s Hagai El-Ad to understand why.

“This weekend was the 49^th anniversary of Jerusalem’s “reunification.” This anniversary comes in the context of a popular uprising in the city unlike any since 1967. Although “Jerusalem-the-eternal-undivided-capital-of-Israel” was never more than a hollow myth, 49 years post-“unification” the city is physically divided by walls of mutual fear and hatred, buttressed by violence and mistrust, as never before,” writes Danny Seidemann.

American and Palestinian officials on Wednesday denounced comments made by Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel, who earlier this week urged Israel to annex Area C of the West Bank and who was incorrectly quoted calling for the removal thousands of Palestinians who live in that area.

Police internal affairs diligently investigates a complaint about police brutality, omitting one minor detail: the incriminating photos provided by the complainant.

Despite Wednesday evening’s terror attack at a Tel Aviv restaurant, Palestinian support for stabbing attacks and an armed intifada decreased to 51 percent and 58 percent; Palestinian pollster Shikaki: support for stabbing attacks decreased as Palestinians see them as ineffective.