Palestinian arrested after trying to stab officers near Temple Mount, police say

A Palestinian man was detained Tuesday night on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City after he allegedly attempted to stab officers before fleeing the scene, police said.

Police closed off the entrances to the Temple Mount and other areas of the Old City immediately after the suspect, a resident of the Bethlehem area in his 20s, fled after he attempted to stab police guarding one of the gates.

According to police, no officers were hurt in the alleged attack.

Video footage showed officers taking the suspect for further questioning following his arrest near at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits atop the Temple Mount.

A knife allegedly used in the attack was also found in the area, police said.

Palestinian media reports said officers fired into the air during the attack. Police later said the shooting was amid an unrelated incident nearby, where an armed civilian fired into the air after a man used pepper spray against passersby. That suspect — who police said was apparently suffering from mental illness — was detained.

⭕️ فيديو | قوات الاحتلال تفوم باعتقال شبان من المسجد الاقصى. pic.twitter.com/Vb4dygMOEB

— صوت الأقصى – عاجل (@Alaqsavoice_Brk) June 28, 2022

This handout photo from Israel Police, shows a knife used in an attempted stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City, June 28, 2022. (Israel Police)

The attempted attack came following a series of attempted stabbings in Jerusalem’s Old City in recent weeks, the most recent of which occurred last week.

On Tuesday, construction work began to upgrade a section of the West Bank security barrier, months after a series of deadly terror attacks were committed by Palestinians who illegally entered Israel.

The Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, as the site of the biblical temples, and Al-Aqsa is the third holiest shrine in Islam, turning the area into a major flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.