After weeks of debates amid continuing Temple Mount clashes between the Israeli security forces and Palestinian youth, Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has reportedly approved the use of live ammo against “rock-throwers” in Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
As protests against Israel’s dominance over the al-Aqsa Mosque site in the Old City of Beit-ul-Moqaddas intensify, Weinstein has accepted a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the use of live sniper fire, RT reported.
Also reportedly approved by the attorney general was the proposal to arrest rock-throwing minors and increase the minimum sentence to four-five years in prison–and to at least 10 years for those caught throwing firebombs. The families of those caught clashing with the Israeli police or assaulting Israeli civilians would also face a fine of up to 100,000 shekels (US$26,000).
Despite the fact that live rounds have been widely used by the IDF in the West Bank, Israeli security forces in Beit-ul-Moqaddas, until now were not permitted to use live ammunition.
The new police playbook has been criticized by Israeli politicians and observers alike. Aida Touma-Sliman, an Israeli MP for the Joint Arab List, accused the ruling coalition of “people hunting,” saying that “Netanyahu is apparently looking for a judicial license to kill and to murder.”
“I don’t think that there is any country in the world that would actually consider or sanction sniper fire against kids throwing rocks,” Palestinian-American journalist Ramzy Baroud told RT.
