There have been disturbances in some parts of Jerusalem and surrounding areas in the occupied West Bank after Israeli police staged a huge security operation to prevent rioting after Friday prayers.
The Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists there are no plans to change the rules at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound, or Temple Mount, that ban Jews from praying there.Four people have now died in two separate attacks on pedestrians in Jerusalem in the past two weeks.
Earlier, Israeli police reopened a key Jerusalem holy site after its closure amid tensions following the shooting of a prominent right-wing Jewish activist.
The Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Sharif was reopened ahead of Muslim Friday prayers, but with restrictions on worshippers as a security measure.
Sporadic violence broke out in East Jerusalem and the West Bank but there have been no major clashes so far.
There has been an escalation of tension in the city in recent weeks.
On Thursday, a spokesman for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas described Israel’s temporary closure of the holy site as a “declaration of war”.
The compound – known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif – is the holiest site in Judaism, and contains the al-Aqsa Mosque – the third holiest site in Islam.
The site was reopened to Muslim worshippers on Friday morning, with entry to men restricted to those over 50 amid fears of unrest after Friday prayers.
Israel deployed more than 1,000 security personnel around the Old City as it reopened the holy site on Friday morning.
Small groups of Muslim men made their way through checkpoints to the site.
After Friday prayers, there were reports of clashes at the Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank town of Ramallah as police fired tear gas on stone-throwing Palestinian youths.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper also reported stone-throwers being dispersed in the East Jerusalem district of Wadi Joz.
There were no immediate reports of injury or arrest but tensions remained high.
Jerusalem’s holiest site
• Known as the Temple Mount to Jews and al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims, it comprises the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and is next to the Western Wall
• The Western Wall, from the time of the second Jewish Biblical temple, is the holiest site where Jews can pray; the Dome of the Rock, where according to Jewish tradition the Ark of the Covenant rested in the first temple, is the holiest site in Judaism
• The al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam; the Dome of the Rock is revered by Muslims because of its connections to the Prophet Muhammad
• Christians also venerate the site because of its Biblical links to Jesus
• A Muslim committee has managed the compound since the time of the Crusades, while Israel, which has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, controls access
• Israel maintains a ban on prayer by non-Muslims at the compound as a security measure
• Rabbi Yehuda Glick campaigns for allowing Jews to pray at the site
– BBC News
