US out to ease tensions

TRUMP AIDE: GREENBLATT IN ISRAEL AFTER A WEEK OF DEADLY VIOLENCE

Palestinians view installation of metal detector as asserting further control.

Atop aide to US President Donald Trump arrived in Israel yesterday in a bid to ease tensions over new security measures at a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site after a weekend of deadly violence.

Jason Greenblatt’s visit comes after more than a week of tensions over the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and central to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel installed metal detectors at entrances to the site, which includes Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, following an attack on July 14 that killed two policemen.

Palestinians view the move as Israel asserting further control over the site. They have refused to enter the compound in protest and have prayed in the streets outside.

Israeli authorities say the metal detectors are needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the site and emerged from it to shoot the officers.

Clashes have broken out during protests over the measures, leaving five Palestinians dead.

On Friday, a Palestinian broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and stabbed three Israelis to death.

An incident on Sunday night in Amman that, according to Israeli officials, saw a Jordanian attack an Israeli security guard with a screwdriver at the Israeli embassy compound, raised further concerns, though it was not immediately clear if there was any link.

The security guard was said to have shot dead the Jordanian, while a second Jordanian there at the time was also killed.

Separately yesterday, Israeli tank fire struck a Hamas post in the Gaza Strip after what was believed to be a rocket from the enclave landed in an open area in Israel. –