Deadly West Bank attack after day of clashes in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM, April 30, (AFP) - A Palestinian man and an Israeli guard were killed in separate West Bank incidents following clashes on Friday between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 42 people had been hurt at the site, which is venerated by Muslims and Jews. An uneasy calm had been restored at the compound following the unrest that surrounded morning prayers, but tensions remained high.
In the early afternoon, a crowd of Muslim worshippers gathered at Al-Aqsa. Some people waved Palestinian flags and the colours of the Gaza Stripbased Hamas militant group, an AFP journalist said.
Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been hurt in clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam's third-holiest site. It is also Judaism's holiest place, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The site is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.
Israel's incursions into the compound during Ramadan met widespread condemnation and raised fears of inflaming persistent Israeli-Palestinian tensions across Jerusalem.
But Israel has insisted it has been compelled to act against operatives from Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It says the militants threaten Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa and Jews praying at the Western Wall.
In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has stressed that the government is committed to the status quo at the compound, meaning an adherence to long- standing convention that only Muslims are allowed to pray there. Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount.
Muslim leaders have, however, been angered by a recent uptick in such visits. Some voiced fears that Israel was seeking to divide the compound and create a space where Jews may worship. Lapid told journalists that no such plan exists.
The fresh unrest comes as the end of Ramadan nears.