Moshe Yaalon tours the Golan Heights
Moshe Yaalon tours the Golan HeightsEden Moladavski/Flash 90

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has laid the blame for the recent series of terrorist attacks squarely at the feet of the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking during a tour of the Golan Heights, Yaalon said the PA's continued incitement to violence and glorification of terrorism directly fueled the spate of attacks, which included the murders of Danny Gonen and, earlier Tuesday evening, Malachi Rosenfeld.

"We have had in the past several days, the Ramadan period, six terrorist attacks already," Yaalon said. "We have no doubt that one of the causes f these attacks is incitement - incitement in general, and incitement by the Palestinian Authority in particular."

"In the aftermath of the attack(s) we must strengthen our forces in Judea and Samaria in order to make movement difficult for those terrorist attackers in the area," he added.

As a result, he warned, some measures would need to be taken which would impact on residents of the area.

"Yesterday there was a stabbing attack by a 20-year-old woman who attacked a female IDF soldier, and therefore we are canceling the easing (of restrictions) through which (Muslim) women can enter to pray on the Temple Mount without security checks," he said.

Other than more security checks, only men aged 50 and over would be allowed to ascend the Temple Mount - a security precaution which has been taken in the past to prevent violence, which is usually carried out by young men.

Yaalon was referring to the escalation in violence since Ramadan began less than two weeks ago. Several of the incidents ended miraculously without injury, while others were thwarted before they could be carried out.

However, security services believe a particularly deadly terrorist cell is operating in the Binyamin Region, north of Jerusalem, and that it was responsible for the murders of Gonen and Rosenfeld, as well as the attack on an ambulance earlier this week.