Israeli PM holds talks on security at Jerusalem site
- by Virginia Carter
- in World Media
- — Jul 20, 2017
Palestinians want to establish an independent state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The three militants, as well as two police officers, were killed in the shooting. The three attackers were seriously wounded, one of them was killed in cold blood, and the occupants prevented the doctors from providing assistance.
The occupied lands have witnessed tensions ever since Israeli forces imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into al-Aqsa Mosque compound two years ago.
On Sunday, Israel began gradually reopening the site.
Israeli police have said that they will continue "to act to enable a return to a safe routine in the Temple Mount area, its entrances and the wider area".
"We call for an end to all the Zionist measures and for the extremist government to take its hands off the blessed Al Aqsa mosque", it said.
"[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu is insisting on this provocation and will bear responsibility for any deterioration here or in the region", Tibi said. In Islam, the same structure is referred to as the Noble Sanctuary, with Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock as the third holiest site for Muslims.
Israeli authorities reopened the compound to Muslims on Sunday, and non-Muslims on Monday, but with extra security measures, such as metal detectors.
The Muslim Brotherhood called for an "Islamic Intifada" - a violent uprising - against Israel Friday following the day's deadly Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem. It allowed Muslims to keep administering the Jerusalem compound.
Meanwhile, two rights groups protested against the closure of the Old City and its vicinity in Jerusalem al-Quds and the ban on Palestinians from entering it.
The attack occurred at the entrance to the town of Beit Einoun, near Hebron, said the army, adding that the assailant had been killed by members of the israeli security forces.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is debating whether to remove new metal detectors at the centre of a dispute with Palestinians over access to a religious site in annexed east Jerusalem, Israeli media said Wednesday.
"They will not deliver sermons in the mosques, but rather go to the blessed al-Aksa Mosque", he said at a press conference.
A call to prayer rang out from Al-Aqsa, but Muslim worshipers held midday prayers outside the site in protest at the new security measures. Worshippers were asked to pray in the streets rather than submit to the new security procedures.
