Multiple incidents of stone-throwing on Thursday evening; police to step up security at Temple Mount in preparation for possible riots following Friday morning prayers, after days of disquiet;
Israeli police plans to send large numbers of officers to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Friday, in preparation for possible protests and riots after Muslim morning prayers conclude, as violence continues to strike the city.
The recent turmoil in and around Al-Aqsa mosque, as well as intelligence indicating Arab youths intend to violently protest, led Jerusalem’s chief of police, Moshe Edri, to order the reinforcement.
Acts of violence continued in Jerusalem on Thursday evening.
A bus driver was lightly wounded in the city when stones hit his bus near the Hizma checkpoint. He was treated by a paramedic team and taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
Meanwhile, a bus was pelted with rocks at Ras al-Amud in East Jerusalem, leading its Arab driver to flee and seek help from a nearby police car.
When the driver, accompanied by the police officers, returned to the bus, they discovered it was on fire. Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze. Investigators are examining the possibility that the fire started due to a thrown Molotov cocktail.
In addition, Molotov cocktails were thrown toward a guard tower in the Ofrit IDF base, in Jerusalem. Firefighters managed to extinguish the flames, and the guard tower was slightly damaged. The Molotov cocktails were seemingly thrown from the direction of Issawiya.
The entrance to the Temple Mount area on Friday will be restricted for Muslims to men over the age of 40 and women and girls of any age. The last time age restrictions were applied in the temple mount was a month and a half ago, after the murder of Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsheh, when police decided to only let men 50 and above and women and girls of any age enter.
The Jerusalem police have reinforced their presence in the eastern and western parts of the city, with an emphasis on the surrounding area and ancient Jerusalem. “Police and border police forces will keep order and prevent any attempt to sabotage the day-to-day life in the ancient city area and in east Jerusalem”, said Edri.
Despite tensions, estimates are that the incidents experienced on Rosh Hashanah eve and during the holiday, of masked men barricading themselves inside Al-Aqsa mosque will not be repeated, since Jewish people are not expected to visit the area on Friday.
As reported by The Jerusalem Post