Armed Israeli cops pour onto Jerusalem streets

World | 8 Dec 2017 7:56 pm

Israeli police deployed reinforcements in and around Jerusalem’s Old City today, in anticipation of Palestinian protests over the Trump administration’s recognition of the contested city as the Israeli capital.

Palestinian political groups have called for massive demonstrations in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem after Friday prayers, the highlight of the Muslim religious week. Separately, the Gaza-based leader of the Islamic militant Hamas has agitated for a third uprising against Israel.

Street protests were expected Friday across the region. Hundreds of Muslims in Indonesia and Malaysia protested outside U.S. Embassies.

For decades, the United States had professed neutrality on the fate of Jerusalem, in line with an international consensus that the fate of the holy city should be determined in negotiations.

Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, is sought by the Palestinians as a future capital. It is also home to major Muslim, Jewish and Christian shrines. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital.

The opposing claims lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have often precipitated deadly violence.

On Friday, all eyes were on east Jerusalem’s Old City, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is Islam’s third holiest shrine and stands on the remnants of Judaism’s holiest site. One of the compound’s outer walls is the holiest site where Jews can pray.

In the past, Israeli authorities often imposed age restrictions, barring younger Muslims from entering the Al Aqsa compound during periods of tensions.

Police said there were no age limits for Muslim worshippers to access their holy site on Friday, but that officers would respond to any disruptions.

After Trump’s announcement Wednesday, Palestinian groups had called for three "days of rage” as a response.-AP



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