Palestinian protesters scuffled with Israeli security forces at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday.
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About two weeks ago, there were several days of clashes as Muslim protesters barricaded themselves inside the mosque while hurling stones and fireworks at police.
The public Israeli radio reported that the Israeli police has entered the compound to remove blocks placed by mask-men in order to prevent the police from entering and closing down the mosque’s gate.
Israeli police say they have captured seven Palestinians over suspected inclusion in savagery at Jerusalem’s most delicate blessed site the earlier day. Monday’s unrest occurred on the first day of Sukkot, a weeklong festival that celebrates the fall harvest and commemorates the wandering of the ancient Israelites through the desert following the exodus from Egypt.
“Israel is committed to respecting the status quo, and the fact that Palestinians are bringing weapons into the site desecrates the holy place and violates the status quo”, Netanyahu said Tuesday. Muslims revere it as the Noble Sanctuary, where they believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Four Palestinian teens, aged 16 to 19, have been arrested by Israeli intelligence operatives over the deadly incident in which the driver of a vehicle hit by rocks allegedly thrown by the detainees was killed when his auto veered into a pole after being struck.
Mahmud Abbas heads to the United Nations this week for a speech expected to be closely watched for clues of his intentions at a time of growing despair among Palestinians, moribund peace talks and volatility in Jerusalem. Jews are allowed to visit but not to pray to avoid provoking tensions. However, Muslim activists are harassing Jewish people visiting the holy site.
“Mahmud Abbas is going to tell everyone that the current situation is no longer tenable, that the Authority has authority in name only while Israel is destroying any idea of a two-state solution”, a Palestinian official told AFP, declining to provide further details.
Efforts by a hardline Jewish minority to build a new temple there have further stoked suspicions.
Jerusalem stays at the heart of the Middle East conflict, where Palestinians consider the east part of it as the capital of their future state, and Israelis insists that the holy city is their “indivisible” capital. That moment came when Israel launched its war of 1967 (known to Palestinians as “Naksa” or the “Setback’), seizing East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, thus sealing the fate of entire historic Palestine”.
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The recent wave of violence has seen Israeli settlers and soldiers attacking Palestinian worshipers following the deployment of Israeli troops to the area for the Jewish Rosh Hashanah New Year holiday.
