Riots near Shufat
Photo: Reuters
J'lem clashes continue: Officer injured in Shufat
Police officer suffers light injuries from stones thrown towards checkpoint near Shufat; 10 detained for stoning Jews on way to Western Wall prayers
A police officer sustained light injuries Monday evening when stones were thrown towards a checkpoint near the Shufat refugee camp in northeast Jerusalem.
Police and Border Guard forces used crowd-control measures to disperse the rioters and detained seven people. Ten hooded rioters who threw stones at Jewish worshipers making their way to the Western Wall for Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing) were also arrested.
Some 50 suspected Arab rioters have been detained since Yom Kippur.
Earlier Monday, a soldier sustained light-moderate wounds when he was stabbed in the throat by an east-Jerusalem resident at a checkpoint near the Shufat neighborhood.
The perpetrator, a 16-year-old from the Palestinian village of Ananta, was detained by police.
Tensions in the Old City and north Jerusalem flared when rumors spread that a group of Jewish extremists were planning to visit the Temple Mount compound, the site of the al-Aqsa Mosque.
According to police, hundreds of east Jerusalem arrived at the site on Sunday morning after being urged to "protect the Mount."
One of those arrested during Sunday's riots was Sheikh Kamal Khatib, the deputy head of the Islamic Movement's branch in northern Israel. "The recent events in Jerusalem's Old City mark the beginning of a difficult period, he told Ynet on Monday, "The al-Aqsa Mosque is ours, and Jerusalem is our city. This should be a place of peace, not war."
Khatib was released on bail and barred from visiting Jerusalem-proper for 15 days.
