Jerusalem, tensions continue on Temple Mount. Crackdown on stone throwing
Jerusalem (AsiaNews / Agencies) - This morning, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the tightening of sanctions against the demonstrators, in particular Palestinians, throwing rocks and stones at police and private citizens.
Meanwhile, an apparent calm reigns on the Temple Mount after three consecutive days of clashes between young Palestinians and Israeli security forces. The first threw stones and rocks at the police who, on several occasions, broke into the area and fired warning shots and tear gas grenades. In this context of growing tension, repeated appeals for calm and restraint launched by the international community have proven futile.
The announcement of the Israeli prime minister came at the end of an emergency meeting he called with the participation of the main cabinet ministers and security officials. It was convoked on 13 September, following the death in Jerusalem of an Israeli citizen (Alexander Levlovitz), in a car accident caused by a stone that hit his car.
The government has decided to establish mandatory minimum sentences for those who "endanger the lives of others by throwing rocks, firecrackers or explosives". Heavy fines will be imposed also on parents who allow their children to take part in the clashes and riots. In addition, in the coming months it is easy to predict that control measures and patrolling by the police will be strengthened, particularly in the area of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall to coincide with the holidays of Yom Kippur and Sukkot.
Meanwhile a situation of relative calm reigns, although further unrest is expected, following three consecutive days of heavy fighting between Israelis and Palestinians. Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site of Islam in importance, but is also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.
Luba Samri, spokesman for the Israeli police confirmed the arrest of two young Palestinians and "wounding" of five policemen, in the context of the raid launched by security forces against protesters who have spent the night inside the holy place. Sources in the Palestinian Red Crescent report instead 26 young Palestinian wounded, none of them seriously, in the wake of the violence.
The current arrival of more than a thousand tourists for the Jewish new year has raised fears among the Palestinian leadership (and Muslims) that Israel wants to erase the existing agreements and impose a division in the use of the area: in the morning for Jews and the rest of the day for Muslims.
This solution, however, would represent a clear violation of the "status quo" and, at least in words, Netanyahu and the heads of government seem to rule out this possibility, although they will not exclude a significant increase in the number of agents. Meanwhile, the organization responsible for the protection of religious property (waqf), led by Jordan, has denounced the raid of Israeli police forces inside the mosque and damage to the area.
The United Nations Special Envoy Nickolay Mladenov has warned of the danger of an escalation of tension and therefore calls on the leaders of the two sides to ensure that "visitors and faithful show respect and restraint." Even European leaders have expressed hope for the end of "provocative" gestures " that all parties - said the show calm and respect for the status quo of the holy places" according to European Commission spokesman Maja Kocijanci .
Analysts and experts on Middle East policy explain that this new rise in tension is fruit of the end (undeclared) of the peace process between Israel and Palestine, which now stands at a dead end and without prospects for recovery. On the one hand there is the failure of political will, which has failed to respond to a decades long crisis; on the other there is the feeling of frustration of the Palestinian people (especially young people), which is confined within an increasingly restricted area and controlled by Israel.
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12/03/2019 16:52
16/03/2010
