Israel

Police Close Access to Har HaBayis After Clashes

Tuesday, June 28, 2016 6:18 am | < 1 Minute Read

Israeli policemen take positions during clashes with masked Palestinians during the holy month of Ramadan on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City June 28, 2016. An Israeli police spokesman said on Tuesday that the compound would be closed to visitors, including Jewish visitors, for three days in response to clashes, in which masked Palestinians threw stones at Israeli policemen and some 16 suspects were detained by the police. REUTERS/Ammar Awad — Israeli policemen take positions during clashes with masked Palestinians near Har HaBayis, Tuesday. (Reuters/Ammar Awad)

Israeli police say they have closed access to Har HaBayis for non-Muslims following clashes there with Palestinians rioters.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Tuesday that following continued Palestinian attacks on police forces, the site would remain closed to visitors until the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan. Throughout the week Palestinians had holed themselves up in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacked officers with fireworks and other objects they had stockpiled inside.

Rosenfeld says masked Palestinians threw stones at Jewish mispallelim in the nearby Kosel plaza, lightly wounding a 73-year-old woman. He says police forces arrested 16 suspects in the disturbances.