Rabbi stabbed in East Jerusalem

Police searched the area but were unable to locate the assailant

A rabbi has been wounded in a stabbing attack in the Old City area of East Jerusalem, Israeli police say.

The Palestinian attacker escaped. The rabbi was not badly hurt, but the attack is expected to raise tensions.

On Sunday, there were clashes in East Jerusalem between Israeli police and stone-throwing Jewish activists.

The protesters were attempting to reach the family home of a Palestinian gunman who shot dead eight students at a Jewish seminary earlier this month.

A police spokesman said the rabbi was a member of the Ateret Cohanim organisation, which helps hardline Jewish settlers buy up property in the mainly-Arab Old City.

The attack happened near the Old City's Damascus Gate, a busy area of Palestinian shops and cafes.

Emergency volunteers said the rabbi's bodyguard chased the assailant but he escaped, leaving behind a blood-stained knife.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and claims the whole city its capital.

Palestinians want the occupied portion, which includes the walled Old City and its holy sites, as the capital of a state which they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.