Protests to go on despite Israel actions

Low-level clashes continue in and around Jerusalem

JERUSALEM, July 26, (Agencies): A senior Muslim official in Jerusalem said Wednesday that worshippers would not return to a contested shrine until Israel removes the new railings and cameras it installed after a deadly attack there, prolonging a crisis that Israel hoped it had resolved by making concessions at the site.

Ikrema Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Committee, said that even after Israel removed metal detectors from the site more steps were required to restore calm. He said mass prayer protests would continue until the gates of the compound were opened, metal railings and an iron bridge removed and newly installed cameras taken down. He said a lawyer working on behalf of the Muslim administration of the holy site would be in touch with Israeli police about it.

“We will not enter the mosque until these things are implemented,” he told The Associated Press. “Now we are awaiting the response of the police.”

The demands set off the prospect of a renewed showdown ahead of Friday prayers at the site, when a large number of worshippers arrive for the centerpiece of the Muslim prayer week.

Response

Israel installed the new security measures earlier this month after Arab gunmen shot and killed two police officers from within the site. It said they were a natural response to the violence and necessary to prevent further attacks, while Palestinians claimed Israel was trying to expand its control over the site. The issue sparked some of the worst street clashes in years and threatened to draw Israel into conflict with other Arab and Muslim nations.

Under intense pressure, Israel removed the metal detectors and said it planned to install sophisticated security cameras instead.

But Palestinian politicians and Muslim clerics say that isn’t enough and are demanding Israel restore the situation at the shrine in Jerusalem’s Old

attending a digital security workshop. They were among six activists, also including Amnesty International’s Turkey director Idil Eser, who were then jailed last week for allegedly aiding an unspecified armed terror group. (AP) City to what it was before the July 14 deadly attack.

In response to that attack, Israel closed the site for two days for weapons searches and installed the metal detectors. The decision quickly triggered Muslim protests amid rumors that Israel was trying to expand its control at the site under the guise of security — a claim Israel strongly denied.

Low-level clashes have continued in and around Jerusalem. The Red Crescent said 13 people were treated Tuesday night after being hit by rubber bullets during protests.

Standoff

The continued standoff highlighted the deep distrust between Israel and the Palestinians when it comes to the shrine — the third-holiest in Islam and the most sacred in Judaism.

The 37-acre (15-hectare) compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been a lightning rod for the rival religious and national narratives of the two sides and has triggered major confrontations in the past.

The latest development could put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a tough spot, as he tries to tamp out a wave of unrest that has triggered international pressure while not appearing to his hard-line base as capitulating.

His government has faced a growing backlash at home for what critics said was hasty decision-making and embarrassing policy reversals. Even Israel Hayom, a free daily owned by Netanyahu’s billionaire patron Sheldon Adelson, denounced Israel’s response to the crisis as “feeble and frightened.”

In an unprecedented headline, the paper — which has been an unequivocal source of support for the prime minister — led with “Netanyahu’s demonstration of helplessness.”

In a face-saving compromise, and after Netanyahu spoke to Jordan’s King Abdullah II and others, Israel’s security Cabinet announced Monday

Kurdish party protests:

Turkey’s proKurdish parliamentary opposition launched three months of protests on Tuesday against a state crackdown which has seen dozens of lawmakers and mayors jailed over suspected links to militant separatists.

Hundreds of police, backed by

French President Emmanuel Macron (center), walks with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj (left), and General Khalifa Haftar (right), commander in the Libyan National Army (LNA) after talks aimed at easing tensions in Libya, in La CelleSaint-Cloud, near Paris, on July 25. The two main rivals in conflict-ridden Libya are committed to a ceasefire and holding elections ‘as soon as possible’, according to a draft statement released ahead of French-brokered talks today. (AFP)

that in place of the metal detectors it would employ nonintrusive “advanced technologies,” reportedly smart cameras that can detect hidden objects. The new security system is said to be set up in the next six months at a cost of $28 million.

The White House welcomed Israel’s decision to remove metal detectors from a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site Tuesday after their installation triggered deadly violence, saying the Jewish state was “reducing tensions.”

“Israel has removed the recently installed magnetometers and cameras, despite the demonstrated need to enhance security at the Temple Mount/ Haram al-Sharif in the wake of the murder of two Israeli police officers at the site on July 14,” spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

“The United States applauds the efforts of Israel to maintain security while reducing tensions in the region.”

Israel’s decision came in the face of intense international diplomacy seeking to prevent the dispute over the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, from sparking wider Palestinian unrest.

The government said it would introduce more discreet measures to secure the compound housing the revered AlAqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock.

Thousands of Jordanians chanted “Death to Israel” on Tuesday as they attended the funeral of a teenager shot dead by an Israeli embassy security guard.

Mohammed Jawawdeh, 17, was killed on Sunday after he assaulted the guard with a screwdriver at the embassy compound in Amman, according to Israeli officials.

A second Jordanian was also killed, apparently by accident, and will be buried on Thursday.

armoured vehicles and water cannon, imposed tight security at a park where 10 lawmakers of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) gathered in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country.

The HDP said police had initially allowed the protest, but later blocked off shaded areas of the park, leaving access only to an exposed paved area under a hot sun. It said in a statement only a few of its members were able to make their way inside.

“The blockade at this park is a sign of the real situation in Turkey... A political party that got 70 percent of votes (in Diyarbakir) cannot carry out its group meeting in the park,” HDP spokesman Osman Baydemir told reporters. (RTRS)

IS cell broken:

Algerian police have broken up an Islamic State militant cell led by a former al-Qaeda commander convicted in France more than a decade ago for planning an attempted bombing in Strasbourg, a security source said on Wednesday.

Mohamed Yacine Aknouche, 43, was once a Europe-based affiliate of Algeria’s Islamic Armed Group (GIA), and was sentenced in absentia by a French court in 2004 to eight years prison, said the source, who asked not to be named.

The source told Reuters that Algerian forces captured Aknouche this week near Tipaza, a coastal city 50 km west of the capital Algiers where officials charge he had been planning to carry out attacks on security forces. It was not clear when he had returned to Algeria. (RTRS)