Jerusalem: Muslims boycotted a Jerusalem holy site for the third day running on Tuesday after Israeli authorities installed metal detectors and cameras at entrances to the sensitive compound following an attack that killed two policemen.
President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party has called fora “Day of Rage” today as 50 Palestinians were wounded in overnight clashes with Israeli police, the Red Crescent reported on Tuesday.
Fifteen of the injured had been hit by rubber bullets, the Red Crescent said. As in previous days, dozens of worshippers prayed outside the Haram al Sharif compound than enter through the metal detectors.
The attack and new security measures have increased Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Protests and scuffles between demonstrators and Israeli police have erupted outside the site, which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa mosque. On Tuesday, a 30-year-old Palestinian carried out a car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank near the city of Hebron, lightly wounding two Israeli soldiers before being shot dead.
It was not clear if the attack was linked to the Jerusalem tensions.
A 17-year-old Palestinian who was injured on Monday during clashes in the Silwan area of east Jerusalem was in critical condition, according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA, which said he had been shot.
Palestinian hospital Makased, where the 17-year-old was being treated, alleged in a statement on Tuesday that Israeli forces had entered the hospital and were disrupting operations.
Israeli police said six arrests had been made overnight in two separate areas of Jerusalem.
Police say a number of Muslims have been entering the compound, though they did not provide a number on Tuesday. The compound has appeared largely empty.
Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah said, “We refuse these dangerous measures that will lead to a ban on the freedom of worship and will obstruct the movement of the faithful”.
The Hamas and other parties have also called for protests in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the new security measures, which include metal detectors and turnstiles at the entrance to the site.
Jerusalem Grand Mufti Mohammed Ahmed Hussein criticised the new measures as altering the status quo, which gives Muslims religious control over the site and permits Jews to visit but not pray there.
The Palestinians fear Israel is trying to retake control of the site by stealth. — Agencies
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