BICOM

Local Palestinians clashed yesterday with Israeli security forces at the al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, as Jewish worshippers gathered to mark a major holy day which commemorates the destruction of the ancient Jewish Temple on the site.

The Temple Mount, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims, became a significant flashpoint for violence towards the end of 2014. Following Israel’s capture of Jerusalem’s Old City during the 1967 Six Day War, Jews have been permitted to visit the site only in small numbers and are banned from praying at the Temple Mount for fear that it would provoke a violent response.

Due to yesterday’s Jewish holy day, Jewish visitors were expected on the Temple Mount with large numbers of worshippers at the adjacent Western Wall. Israeli forces received intelligence that local Palestinian youths had gathered in the al-Aqsa Mosque overnight and assembled a stash of rocks, planks and Molotov cocktails with the purpose of an altercation.

As a result, Israeli security forces entered the Temple Mount compound at around 7.30am. Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, “The police were attacked immediately upon entering the Temple Mount compound by Palestinians armed with rocks, firebombs, fireworks, and metal pipes.” He continued, “Using non-lethal means, officers pushed the assailants into al-Aksa Mosque – without entering it themselves – to secure the area.” Three Palestinians were arrested later in the day as rocks were thrown in the surrounding Muslim Quarter.

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin condemned the rioters, saying “I express my support for the security forces and for their determination to prevent any harm or interference to the prayers at the Western Wall … Such acts of hatred cannot be tolerated.”

Israeli leaders have long condemned Palestinian leaders for stoking violence at the Temple Mount by denying the Jewish historical presence at the site. Palestinian Authority Deputy Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Salwa Hadib recently told Palestinian television that Israeli archaeologists falsify artefacts in order to prove a “false” Jewish history in Jerusalem.