Standoff continues at Al Aqsa even after metal detectors removed
occupied jerusalem — A tense standoff was under way between Israelis and Muslim worshippers at a Jerusalem holy site on Wednesday despite the removal of metal detectors, with concerns of major unrest later this week if a resolution is not found.
Muslims have refused to enter the site and have prayed in the streets outside for more than a week after Israel installed new security measures at the Haram Al Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The measures followed an attack that killed two policemen and included metal detectors at entrances.
Palestinians view the move as Israel asserting further control over the site, which houses the revered Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Israeli authorities said the metal detectors were needed because the July 14 attackers smuggled guns into the site and emerged from it to attack the officers.
Protests and deadly unrest have erupted in the days since, with clashes breaking out around the compound in Jerusalem’s Old City and in the occupied West Bank, leaving five Palestinians dead.
A Palestinian also broke into a home in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank last week and stabbed four Israelis, killing three of them.
There are concerns the main prayers on Friday — which typically draw thousands of Muslims to Al Aqsa — will lead to serious clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces.
Following intensive international diplomacy and warnings of the potential of wider unrest, Israel removed the metal detectors in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday.
Cameras installed in the wake of the attack on the police were also removed.
But Israeli officials said they were to be replaced with “advanced technologies” — widely believed to be smart cameras with facial recognition technology.
Railings installed at the site’s entrance before the metal detectors were removed have also remained in place. —