Israel reopened a contested Jerusalem holy site on Friday and deployed more than 1,000 security personnel following clashes the previous day between Palestinians and Israeli riot police that had ratcheted up already heightened tensions in the city.
Small groups of Palestinian worshippers made their way through a series of Israeli checkpoints to the site known to Jews as the ‘Temple Mount’ and to Muslims as the ‘Noble Sanctuary’ under leaden gray skies and pouring rain.
No clashes were reported after prayer services ended around mid-day, though Israeli security personnel fired several volleys of tear gas canisters at dozens of rock-throwing Palestinian youths gathered at the Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
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There were no immediate reports of injuries or arrests.
The Jerusalem holy site has been a flashpoint between devotees of the two faiths for decades, underscoring the incendiary nature of the religious component in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A visit there by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon in 2000 set off the last Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule. It remains a potent symbol for the two peoples’ competing territorial claims.
Israeli authorities had said they were limiting access to the site on Friday to Muslim men over 50 in an attempt to dampen the prospects for violence triggered by Thursday’s killing of a Palestinian man suspected of attempting to assassinate a hard-line Jewish activist.
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Israeli-American rabbi Yehuda Glick, campaigning for greater Jewish access to the site, was shot three times late Wednesday but his condition was now said to be improving.
Jews have been increasingly visiting the site in recent months, prompting strong opposition from Muslims who fear greater Israeli influence in Jerusalem.
On Friday, Hamas issued calls for Palestinians in the West Bank to take to the streets to defend the Jerusalem holy site.