Fresh violence in Jerusalem after new Al-Aqsa measures
Israeli PM denies he seeks to change rules of holy site
JERUSALEM: Fresh violence flared between Israelis and Palestinians Sunday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to install more security cameras at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a bid to defuse tensions.
In a spate of incidents in the occupied West Bank a Palestinian woman was shot dead while trying to knife Israeli border police and a Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli man before fleeing, police said.
Knife attacks, shootings and protests have become near daily occurrences since October 1, sparking a diplomatic scramble to avert what many fear heralds a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
The Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem is sacred to both Muslims and Jews, and Netanyahu on Saturday agreed on new measures to allay Palestinian fears that he plans to change longstanding rules governing the site.
Netanyahu vowed Jews would continue to be allowed to visit but not pray at the compound and agreed that 24-hour surveillance cameras could be installed, adding these were in Israel’s interest.
PALESTINIANS SUSPICIOUS Palestinian officials reacted warily on Sunday to the decision to calm Israeli-Palestinian violence by putting a sensitive Jerusalem holy site under video monitoring.
“This is a new trap,” Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Voice of Palestine radio, accusing Israel of planning to use such footage to arrest Muslim worshippers.