About a month ago a political hack here wryly commented that, in Jerusalem, half the city was rioting and the other half didn’t know.

In truth, even before the assassination attempt last night, the writing had been on the wall. On 5 August a Palestinian deliberately drove his bulldozer into a number of pedestrians, killing a young man, and injuring six others. On the same day, in a second incident, a soldier was shot in the stomach by an unknown assailant who escaped on a moped in the north of the city.

Last week saw another vehicular terror attack. A local Palestinian rammed his car into a crowd of commuters waiting at a stop on the light railway, killing a three-year-old baby and young woman, before being shot himself.

On the eastern side of the city, there has been significant rioting and public disturbances on a regular basis for the last three months, following the horrific incident when an Arab youth was abducted and murdered in revenge for the killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank.

Particularly prevalent has been the constant disruptions to the light railway that includes stations in Arab neighbourhoods on its way to the Jewish neighbourhoods in the very north of the city. It is symbolic that the light railway has come under attack, since it is an expensive, trendy, modern public service that was aimed to serve all sectors of society. There have been numerous cases of carriages attacked, windows smashed in, platforms vandalised.

Also, inside the Arab neighbourhoods, there is the return of the old-new phenomenon of youths throwing stones as well as Molotov cocktails. Legislation is being prepared to try and deter the stone throwers; to imprison those who endanger lives and, if underage, fine their parents.

Despite the considerable unrest, due to a concerted effort by the police and security services to reduce tension and exercise restraint, the rioting has remained localised to Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, and so those in the West of the city could remain, theoretically, unaware.

Last night’s shooting, which happened at a well-known venue in a relatively central Jewish area, is a significant blow to this sense of containment. It is also noteworthy as the victim, Yehuda Glick, is inextricably associated with his activity on the Temple Mount, which has been a regular flashpoint for violence between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces. It is the holiest site in the world for Jews, being where the Jewish Temple was located, and today is the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock, holy to Muslims.

Despite the centrality of the site for Jews, after capturing the Old City and reuniting Jerusalem in 1967, Israel left the administration of the Temple Mount under the authority of the Islamic Waqf religious council. The status quo agreement allows a small number of non-Muslims to visit the Temple Mount (during restricted hours in between Muslim prayers), but only Muslims are allowed to pray there.

Read the article in full at the International Business Times.