Cops give Jerusalemites the all-clear after terror scare

After approximately three hours of heightened security in Jerusalem, police on Tuesday night said they had taken down roadblocks set up over a terror threat.

Just after 4:00 p.m., following the “security alert,” officers had increased their presence in the city and set up a number of checkpoints on main motorways, police said.

Officers conducted searches of pedestrians at the Damascus Gate of the Old City as security forces looked for two suspects, one of them a teenager from the Hebron area, Channel 2 reported.

But by 7:30 p.m., police officers went “back to regular activity” in the capital, according to a police spokesperson.

There were no immediate reports of arrests.

Meanwhile, Israel’s security forces were gearing up for the Jewish High Holidays with preparations for increased presence around Jerusalem’s Old City, synagogues and other major sites, a police spokesperson said Tuesday.

Police from around the country will be bolstered by Border Police officers and volunteers in stepping up security around the city, with particular focus on the Old City.

The Old City will be closed to non-local vehicle traffic on the first evening of Rosh Hashanah, Sunday night.

Jerusalem’s Old City has been a flashpoint for Palestinian attacks on Israeli security forces and civilians in the past year of violence, which began with a stone-throwing attack in Jerusalem on the eve of the Jewish New Year.

Since then, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese were killed in a wave of Palestinian car-ramming, stabbing, shooting, and bombing attacks.

Many of the attacks took place along the seam dividing east and west Jerusalem.

Some 230 Palestinians and one Jordanian were also killed during that period. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks. Others were shot dead during protests or killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.