Police brace for renewed riots in East Jerusalem

Jerusalem police were on high alert Thursday afternoon anticipating the resumption of riots that began Wednesday in the eastern part of the city after the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager.

Meanwhile, in Zurif, a village south of the capital, an IDF medic was lightly wounded by Palestinian stone throwers and was brought to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. Several dozen Palestinians rioted in the village, located near Gush Etzion.

Overnight, the IDF arrested 13 Palestinians in the West Bank, including a wanted terrorist from Hebron. In addition, the army shut down two welfare institutions affiliated with Hamas.

The main streets in the Shuafat and Beit Hanina neighborhoods, where protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktail for several hours Wednesday, were partially closed to civilian traffic. The city’s light rail was also running on a reduced schedule until further notice, according to the Ynet news site. It will take months to repair the damage caused to the train infrastructure by Wednesday’s rioters, officials said.

16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager whose body was found Wednesday, July 2 in Jerusalem’s forest area. (photo credit: AFP via family handout)

East Jerusalem saw widespread rioting Wednesday after the body of 16-year-old Shuafat resident Muhammed Abu Khdeir was found in the Jerusalem Forest.

Police officials have told The Times of Israel they were investigating two possible motives: that Abu Khdeir was killed in a family honor killing, or that it was a nationalistically motivated slaying. According to officials familiar with the investigation, investigators increasingly view the killing as a revenge attack perpetrated by Jewish terrorists.

Wednesday’s protests saw multiple violent clashes with police and the burning down of a light rail station.

Police also closed the Temple Mount to Muslim worshipers on Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to prevent the spreading of riots to the city’s holy sites.