Israel calls up police reserves after escalation in violence

Israel has announced an emergency call-up of police reserves amid an escalation in violent confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians that saw seven Palestinians and three Israeli policemen wounded on Friday.

Following days of tension around Jerusalem’s flashpoint religious site known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif and revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, Israel deployed hundreds of extra police around the city for Friday prayers.

The latest violence – both in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem – has come after three days of rioting earlier this week which followed a raid by Israeli police on the Al-Aqsa mosque.

It comes too as Israel’s prime minister has warned that he is seeking to give security forces greater latitude to use live fire against Palestinian stone throwers, a threat that has been echoed by several other prominent Israeli politicians and condemned by human rights groups.

According to Palestinian paramedics the seven Palestinians injured during clashes on Friday at least two locations were shot in the legs some by small-calibre live rounds fired from Ruger rifles.

The Israeli policemen injured were wounded during an operation in Jabel Mukaber, south-east Jerusalem. Israel’s Channel 2 said police were investigating whether gunfire was directed at police during the incident in what would represent a marked escalation.

Friday’s incidents follow a late night statement issued by the UN security council expressing its “grave concern” over a week of violence centred on the religious site which includes the Al-Aqsa mosque.

One elderly Israeli died in an incident in Jerusalem earlier this week blamed by the Israeli authorities on Palestinian stone throwers.

The escalation follows the decision by the Israeli government to ban two Islamic volunteer watch groups at Al-Aqsa which it accuses of intimidating Jewish visitors and fomenting violent confrontations.

Unrest began on Sunday on the eve of the Jewish new year holiday of Rosh Hashanah when Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque and threw rocks and firecrackers at officers. Police say pipe bombs were also found there.

The confrontations come at a highly charged moment – between the Jewish religious holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur next week and the Muslim holiday of Eid, also celebrated next week.

Palestinians say the recent moves – including the banning of the two Muslim groups – is designed to change the status quo around worship and visitation to the site, a claim denied by the Israeli government.

Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of arliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee which made the decision in a special discussion on Friday, said the additional forces “will help in returning order quickly” to Jerusalem.

Since Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, Jews have been allowed to visit but not pray at the compound. Under an arrangement, Muslim authorities manage the site’s religious and civilian affairs under Jordanian supervision, while Israeli police oversee security.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the clashes in particularly harsh language, claiming that none of Jerusalem's holy sites belonged to Israel.

The Israeli public security minister, Gilad Erdan, on Friday blamed Abbas for "incitement and lies" that led to violence. He said that by bringing explosive materials and rocks into the holy site, rioters had turned the house of worship into a "warehouse of terror". – Guardian service