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Israeli Security Measures Lead to Deaths, Violence

Israeli security forces violently clamped down on Friday’s demonstrations.
Israeli security forces violently clamped down on Friday’s demonstrations.

Six people have been killed in the bloodiest spate of Israeli-Palestinian violence for years, following new Israeli security measures at the holiest site in Beit-ul-Moqaddas.

Three Israelis were stabbed to death in an illegal Jewish settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, hours after three Palestinians were killed, news outlets reported.

The violence was prompted by Israel’s installation of metal detectors at entry points to Al-Aqsa compound in Beit-ul-Muqaddas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian leadership will freeze all contact with Israel.

“On behalf of the Palestinian leadership I declare a freeze of contacts with the occupying state on all levels until Israel commits to cancelling its measures against our people in general and especially in Jerusalem city and Al-Aqsa mosque.”

Tensions have mounted for days with Palestinians protesting over installed metal detectors by Israeli security forces outside the sacred venue.

Israel decided to install the metal detectors at the entry point to the shrine in Beit-ul-Muqaddas on Sunday, after the killing of two Israeli security forces on July 14.

Despite international pressure to remove the metal detectors, Israel security decided to keep them in place, saying they were needed to prevent arms being smuggled into the shrine.

In protest, thousands of worshipers gathered for Friday prayers at various entrances to the sacred compound. They refused to enter, preferring to pray outside, filling the narrow alleyways of the Old City.

Israeli security forces violently clamped down on Friday’s demonstrations, firing live ammunition, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at crowds of Palestinians protesting against the new measures, which include the barring of Muslim men under the age of 50 from the holy site.

Muslim leaders and Palestinian political factions had urged the faithful to gather for a “day of rage” against the new security policies, which they see as changing delicate agreements that have governed the holy site for decades.

 

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