Police arrest 31 in sweep of East Jerusalem neighborhood

Explosive device detonated near Issawiya mosque during the operation, but no one injured

IDF troops and border police carried out a major arrest operation overnight Tuesday in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, police said Wednesday.

During the operation, Israeli forces arrested 31 people suspected of rock throwing, possessing illegal weapons and rioting, a police statement said. Another 18 people were brought in for questioning.

During the sweep, a low-scale explosive device was detonated near the entrance to the mosque in the neighborhood. No one was injured by the blast.

The operation had been planned in advance based on intelligence findings, the police statement said.

The statement also said that in tandem with the arrest operation, the police have partnered with the Jerusalem municipality’s beautification and sanitation departments to improve the overall quality of public spaces in the neighborhood, including increasing sanitation efforts, erasing graffiti and painting street curbs.

Israel recently announced new efforts to crack down on crime and raise the standard of living in Arab neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian youths overnight Tuesday during an operation to demolish the home of a terrorist in the West Bank town of Qalandiya.

Two soldiers were lightly injured when rocks were thrown at troops during the demolition of a house belonging to the family of Hussein Abu Ghosh, 17, who killed Shlomit Krigman in a stabbing attack in the West Bank settlement of Beit Horon in January, the army said.

The army said troops were attacked with rocks, Molotov cocktails and an improvised explosive device thrown at soldiers who responded by firing tear gas and then live bullets at the protesters.

Two Palestinians were shot during the clashes, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency. The army confirmed the reports.

Abu Ghosh along with Ibrahim Al’an, 23, from the West Bank Palestinian village of Beit Ur al-Tahta, entered the Beit Horon settlement near Jerusalem on January 25 and stabbed shoppers in a local grocery store. Both were shot dead by a security guard at the scene. Krigman, 23, was seriously injured and died a day later. Another woman was moderately wounded.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report