ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/SECURITY PREP Israel tightens security in Jerusalem's old city

Record ID: 136198

  • Title: ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS/SECURITY PREP Israel tightens security in Jerusalem's old city
  • Date: 9th October 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 9, 2015) (REUTERS) DAMASCUS GATE WITH ISRAELI SECURITY AT BARRICADES PALESTINIANS WALKING THROUGH ISRAELI SECURITY BARRICADES VARIOUS OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS CHECKING IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS OF PALESTINIANS ISRAELI SECURITY NEAR DAMASCUS GATE PALESTINIANS WALKING THROUGH ISRAELI SECURITY BARRICADES ISRAELI SECURITY BARRICADES NEAR DAMASCUS GATE PALESTINIAN
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABXW6MUZTOVBRTKI058JPXYM88
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israel restricted entry for men under 50 years to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday (October 9) amid intense security, after several days of violence and a series of stabbings.
    Four Israelis have been killed in stabbings in Jerusalem and a drive-by shooting in the occupied West Bank in the past week. Three Palestinians have been shot dead and scores injured in clashes with security services, triggering fears of escalation.
    Palestinians fear visits by Jewish groups, including lawmakers, to the Jerusalem plaza revered in Judaism as the site of two destroyed biblical temples, are eroding Muslim religious control of al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest shrine.
    In a bid to lower tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had banned cabinet ministers and legislators from visiting the sensitive religious site.
    Israeli police frequently limit access to al-Aqsa to women and men over the age of 40 or 50 when they are concerned about potential clashes at the site.
    On Thursday, several metal detectors were installed on the gates of Jerusalem's old city.
    Worshippers wanting to enter the ornate marble-and-stone compound, which contains the golden Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, queued behind blue barricades to show their identification papers to the police.
    More than 3,500 Israeli police were deployed in and around Jerusalem and the Old City, a spokesman said, in addition to undercover anti-riot forces.
    Al-Aqsa is a particularly sensitive issue. The elegant 38-acre (15 hectare) compound, lined with cypress trees, houses the 7th century Dome of the Rock, from where the Prophet Mohammad is said to have ascended into heaven.
    As well as its Islamic heritage, it was home to two ancient Jewish temples, the second of which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, and is revered as the holiest site in Judaism.
    According to rules agreed between Israel and Jordan after the 1967 war, while Jews are allowed to access al-Aqsa, they are not allowed to pray there. That status quo has stood without serious challenge for the past five decades.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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