Stones thrown at police in East Jerusalem
Security forces come under attack in Old City and Jabel Mukaber; tourist hurt by fireworks
Rioting youths threw stones Thursday at police forces in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.
Officers responded with riot dispersal measures, according to a police spokesman.
In Jerusalem’s Old City, police dispersed rioters who hurled stones at them.
No injuries or arrests were reported in either incident.
Also in the Old City, a female tourist was lightly injured when she was hit by a firework launched toward a police force nearby. A Palestinian youth was arrested, Israel Radio reported.
Earlier in the day, a public bus was stoned by Palestinians as it drove through East Jerusalem. A 17-year-old suspect was arrested.
The incidents follow weeks of almost daily violent incidents and unrest in the capital.
On Wednesday night, Rabbi Yehudah Glick, a prominent activist for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, was shot and critically wounded in an apparent assassination attempt.
Police on Thursday said they killed the suspected shooter in a raid in the Arab-Jewish neighborhood of Abu Tor, which lies on the seam line between east and west Jerusalem.
Other attacks have been fatal. Last week a Palestinian man drove a car into a crowded train platform. In the days following, Palestinians have clashed continuously with Israeli police in Arab neighborhoods of the capital. Israel responded to the rise in violence by increasing its police presence, deploying an additional 1,000 officers to the city.
Netanyahu said Thursday that he ordered a further reinforcement of security forces in Jerusalem, and that the effort would take significant time.
“No one needs to take the law into their own hands,” he cautioned.
Police were on high alert in the city, bracing for violence and revenge attacks and closing down the Temple Mount for the first time in over a decade.
Glick remains in serious condition at Shaare Tzedek Medical Center.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.