Hundreds of policemen were deployed near the Palestinian neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem after a week of repeated clashes between Palestinians and the police, Jerusalem District Police Commander, Brigadier General Avshalom Peled said.
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Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protestors throwing stones in neighborhoods around the Mount of Olives on Friday.
Tension has mounted at Al-Aqsa Mosque recently, with nearly daily break-ins by Jewish settlers and Israeli police and restricting Muslim women, children and men under 40 from entering the mosque.
The Israeli authorities said rioters had barricaded themselves inside the compound, and were attempting to disrupt Jewish worshippers visiting the site, which is also revered in Judaism, ahead of the Rosh Hashanah (New Year) celebrations on Sunday 13 September.
The moves came amidst escalating clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem, including an increasing number of stone and firebomb attacks on Israeli cars in the city.
The mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
In Jordan, thousands of protesters on Friday rallied in the capital Amman and other cities to denounced Israeli “violence” at the Al-Aqsa compound.
In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has also been protesting Israeli troops at al-Aqsa with demonstrations in at least Cairo and Alexandria, after a period in which it was quiescent after the overthrow of its president, Mohammed Morsi.
The status quo refers to the Temple Mount staying under the control of the Muslim Waqf, as it has been since 1967, with only Muslims permitted to pray at the site, though Jews and Christians may visit.
Only about 10-12 percent of Palestinians in east Jerusalem are citizens of Israel.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem city in 1967. He said that by bringing explosive materials and rocks into the holy site, protesters had turned the “house of worship” into a “warehouse of terror”.
The infringement on Al Aqsa Mosque, due to its religious symbolism, is too unsafe, and Israel can not be oblivious to this fact.
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There were no injuries and damages then, and the Israeli Air Force struck targets in Gaza in response to the rocket fire. The IDF also reported that one Palestinian was lightly wounded after being shot in the leg with a Ruger rifle in the West Bank village of Aboud, adjacent to the settlement of Beit Aryeh.
