Israeli police fatally shot a man at the holy site in Jerusalem.
Israeli police fatally shot a man at the holy site in Jerusalem.
Israeli police fatally shot a 26-year-old man from an Arab hamlet in southern Israel on Friday night after they claimed he tried to take an officer's weapon at a controversial Jerusalem location.
Officers stopped the individual for questioning near the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem's Old City, the third holiest site in Islam. Israeli police are stationed in Jerusalem.
After the shooting, video posted on social media showed a significant Israeli police presence in the region, with altercations breaking out between police and Palestinian traders and worshippers who were attending the mosque during the Ramadan holy month. On March 31, more than 200,000 Palestinians gathered there for noon prayers without encountering any significant problems with Israeli police.
Several incidents at the hilltop complex, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have in the past sparked disturbances in the West Bank and confrontations between Israel and the authorities of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel asserts that the majority of those killed were militants, although there have also been losses among civilians and youngsters who were opposing police incursions.