Clashes at Jerusalem holy site for 3rd straight day

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said security forces shut the door on protesters inside the mosque in a tactic previously used to restore calm.

Senior Israeli ministers convening last night in emergency session were expected to endorse legislation requiring a minimum sentence for anyone convicted of throwing stones or petrol bombs. Police denied the allegation and said they only removed a barricade blocking the entrance.

The Israeli occupation soldiers have also come down heavily on the Muslim congregation and supervision personnel at al-Aqsa, denying them the right to enter the holy place of worship while boosting break-ins by fanatic Israelis and vandals. She said the identity of the attackers is unknown but they are likely from a nearby Arab neighborhood.

Alexander Levlovitz, 64, died in the early hours of Monday, after his vehicle lost control and careered off the road, injuring two other passengers in south-east Jerusalem. “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, in word and in practice”. “Jordan will have no choice but to take action”, said Abdullah, whose father, the late King Hussein, signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.

Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, says the current arrangement will be maintained.

“We have gotten reassurances from the Israeli government that this would not happen. Unfortunately, these are reassurances we have heard in the past”, the king said.

“As the Middle East faces a vicious tide of terror and extremism, such serious provocations have the potential to ignite violence well beyond the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem”.

The protesters threw rocks, fireworks, concrete blocks and a firebomb at officers, she said, adding that two Palestinians were arrested and five police officers were slightly injured.

Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound, but Jews must not pray or display national symbols for fear of triggering tensions with Muslim worshipers.

The holy compound is a source of religious and political tension between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Israeli premier also said that Israel’s rules of engagement when dealing with “rioters” would be modified in “several areas”.

Palestinians and Israeli security forces clashed for a third straight day at the site of the al-Aqsa mosque compound and the surrounding Old City of Jerusalem.

Azzam Khatib, the director of the Waqf – the Islamic religious authority that oversees the compound – said Israeli police entered deep inside the mosque in what he called “a very risky development”. The al-Aqsa mosque, revered by Muslims as one of the three holiest sites in Islam, also sits atop the site.

Information for this article was contributed by Karin Laub, Edith M. Lederer and Bradley Klapper of The Associated Press.