JERUSALEM: Clashes raged in east Jerusalem yesterday after Israeli police shot dead a Palestinian accused of trying to kill a Jewish hardliner, as Al Aqsa mosque compound was closed for the first time in decades.
Israel said its closure of the flashpoint shrine, which is holy to Jews and Muslims alike, was a temporary measure aimed at calming tempers.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned it as an Israeli “declaration of war”.
Later, in the evening, Israel decided to reopen the mosque compound to Muslims following Arab and US calls for Muslim worshippers to be allowed in.
“It was decided to restore (the compound) to normal... effective immediately,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said, adding that because of a fear of unrest at Friday prayers, entry for Muslim men would be restricted to those over 50.
There would be no restrictions on Muslim women, she said.
Samri said the decision was subject to security developments.
Wednesday night’s shooting incident and the subsequent killing of the suspected gunman sent tensions soaring to a new high, following months of almost daily clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in the occupied eastern sector of the Holy City.
Officials from the Islamic Waqf, which administers the esplanade, confirmed it was the first time such a measure had been taken since Israel seized Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.
“This dangerous Israeli escalation is a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation,” Abbas said through his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, warning it would only fuel “more tension and instability.”
Jordan’s Islamic affairs minister Hayel Daoud said it amounted to a case of Israeli “state terrorism”. Under its 1994 peace treaty with Israel, Jordan has responsibility for Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
But a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the closure of the compound aimed “to prevent riots and escalation as well as to restore calm and status quo to the Holy Places”.
Meanwhile, residents of the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Abu Tor were left reeling after a police raid killed Muataz Hijazi, 32.
Israel said he was behind the attempt to gun down hardline activist Yehuda Glick, who has lobbied for Jewish prayer rights at the Al Aqsa compound.
Police said Hijazi began shooting at officers, who returned fire, killing him. But his family had a different version.
“They burst into the house shortly before 6 am, ransacked Muataz’s room and then shot him on the roof,” said his brother Khalil, 34.
Islamic Jihad said Hijazi was one of its militants.
Abu Tor straddles west Jerusalem and the Arab eastern sector, and borders the volatile district of Silwan that has been the focus of months of confrontations.
Inside, the house reeked of tear gas and on nearby sidestreets riot police fired gas canisters and rubber bullets at around 50 stone-throwing Palestinian youths in clashes that erupted after the shooting.
In a bid to restore order in Jerusalem, Netanyahu ordered a “significant increase” in police deployments but called for calm after right-wing groups reacted furiously to the attempted hit on Glick.
In the Old City, police fanned out in force, imposing a near lockdown in parts.
The assassination attempt followed months of tensions over the Al Aqsa compound.
Although non-Muslims are authorised to visit the site, Jews are not allowed to pray there for fear it could disturb the fragile status quo.
AFP
