Tensions have been growing in Jerusalem over the past few weeks, and reached a peak over the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana, when police stormed a site that is holy to Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem’s Old City after they said they had intelligence that young men were planning to barricade themselves inside.
Advertisement
Israeli officials accuse the Palestinian leadership of fanning the flames with incendiary remarks against Israelis. But some analysts say that Israel must take a broader approach to the tensions between Jews and Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Talahmeh’s death came after a string of incidents between the army and Palestinians in the Hebron area during the day yesterday, residents said.
Overnight in the village of Dura near Hebron, another Palestinian was killed by an explosive device he supposedtoss at a military vehicle.
“It is absolutely critical that all sides exercise restraint, refrain from provocative actions and rhetoric, and preserve unchanged the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif Temple Mount, both in word and in practice”, said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. Israel’s parliament also approved calling up reservists from the border police to assist in the situation.
“What is happening is very serious”, said Abbas, urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put a end to these “practices”, warning of “chaos” and the outbreak of an ” Intifada [uprising] that we do not want”.
The demonstrators were protesting against the PA security services’ assault on a Palestinian youth in a rally organised a couple of days ago in solidarity with Al-Aqsa Mosque.
And Jews begin their seven-day Sukkot festival the following week, one of the holidays when more Israelis than usual are likely to visit the compound.
On Sunday, dozens of protesters gathered outside the security forces’ station in Bethlehem and threw stones, injuring nine officers, according to the security force. While these clashes were triggered by a recent dispute over a part of Jerusalem, they’re symptoms of the inherent instability of the Israel-Palestine conflict, in which the slightest provocation can trigger this kind of violence.
Jewish activist Yehuda Glick, who survived a Palestinian assassination attempt for his campaign to allow Jewish prayer at the Jerusalem holy site, said he pressed his case recently in a meeting with Netanyahu.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has imposed a complete closure on Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which will remain in effect until midnight on Wednesday.
Fifteen years ago, a visit to the compound by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon set off deadly violence that escalated into the second Palestinian uprising.
Advertisement
Israel captured Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.
