Israel steps up Jerusalem security after Palestinian clashes

“We have to remember that there are 330,000 Palestinians in east Jerusalem and 99.9 percent of them are not taking part in this violence”, Michaeli said.

They warn that Israel wants to impose a temporal and spatial division at the mosque’s compound, contrary to the status quo.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor took issue with the statement for largely ignoring the Jewish people’s connection to the Temple Mount.

Some extremist Jewish groups have called for the demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that a Jewish temple might be built in its place.

“Instead of calming tensions, the Council sides with those who are trying to set the region on fire”. The population of Jerusalem is just over 800,000 and 36 percent of them are Palestinians.

An Israeli army spokeswoman would not comment on the number of injuries, but said clashes were continuing in the West Bank.

On Wednesday, Israeli settlers, backed by the Tel Aviv regime’s forces, stormed the mosque, attacking the Muslim worshipers for the fourth consecutive day.

“Anyone with complaints about these developments should lodge them not with Israel, but with Ramallah, Gaza and the instigators in the Galilee and unfortunately also Turkey”, said Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s comments come a day after Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that Israel has been too “merciful” on Palestinian stone-throwers so far and that police should use live ammunition to quell demonstrations, according to the Times of Israel.

The compound is the holiest site in Judaism, which venerates it as the Temple Mount, and the third-holiest site in Islam.

Israel’s parliament said Friday its foreign affairs and defence committee authorised a call-up of reservists from the paramilitary border police, “in response to the deteriorating security situation in Jerusalem”.

Gold slammed Palestinian Liberation Organization head Saeb Erekat for saying two days ago that Israel is undertaking “attempts at turning Jerusalem into an exclusively Jewish city”.

Police entered the hilltop compound three days in a row to disperse Palestinians who had holed up inside the mosque with stockpiles of rocks and fireworks.

It claims sovereignty over the entire city, including holy sites.

Netanyahu convened a meeting Sunday at which the police explained their plan for tackling the recent upsurge in violence in Jerusalem. This prompted “condemnations across the Arab world” of the incursions into the Muslim holy site.

Such attacks usually draw retaliatory air strikes from Israel.

Jordan has custodianship rights over Muslim holy locations in Jerusalem beneath its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. Palestinian Authority policy under PA President Mahmoud Abbas has sought to prevent confrontation between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces.