Tension in the Air: 4 Lightly Injured in Temple Mount Riot

reprinted from Ynet
09.27.09

by Efrat Weiss

4 lightly injured in Temple Mount riot

Group of tourists enters holy site in Jerusalem accompanied by police force. Some 150 Muslim worshippers gather around them, some hurling stones. Two policemen lightly wounded, two worshippers hurt by tear gas.

Two policeman and two Muslim worshippers were lightly injured in riots which erupted Sunday morning at the Temple Mount holy site in Jerusalem.

The incident began when a group of tourists entered the Temple Mount compound accompanied by a police force. At a certain stage, some 150 worshippers started gathering around them and calling out towards them.

Some of the worshippers began throwing stones at the group. The police force fired stun grenades in an attempt to gain control of the riot. Two police officers were lightly injured by stones and received medical treatment on the site. They were later evacuated to the Shaare Zedek and Hadassah Ein Kerem hospitals in the capital.

Two worshippers were lightly hurt by the grenades and were evacuated to the al-Maqasid Hospital in east Jerusalem. Adult worshippers attempted to calm things down, while the group of tourists was removed from the site.

Police on high alert

The defense establishment has declared a heightened state of alert across the country ahead of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. On Saturday evening, a closure was imposed on the West Bank until Monday at midnight. Residents will only be allowed to cross into Israel in humanitarian cases.

The defense establishment will focus its Yom Kippur Eve activity around cemeteries, while on Yom Kippur itself forces will be deployed around synagogues.

Vehicles will not be allowed to pass from east Jerusalem to the western part of the city in order to minimize the friction between Jews and Arabs.

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