Clashes broke out, after the Israeli police decided to close the complex gates in response to the hurling of a firebomb at a police post within the ancient compound, damaging the structure.
Even though no serious injuries or damage to the sites within the Temple Mount were reported, a police spokesperson emphasized that “any violence will not be accepted, and will be dealt with, in accordance with the rules and regulations mandated to the police.”
While the clashes at the site, where both biblical temples once stood, have come to an end; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – from his seat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, condemned what he called “the grave Israeli escalation” at the compound – which today houses the third holiest site to Sunni Muslims, including the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Several hours thereafter, a Palestinian man reportedly ran toward an IDF force in the West Bank city of Hebron with a knife in hand. The IDF spokesperson’s unit said that the troops immediately responded by opening fire toward the Palestinian attacker, neutralizing the threat. No injuries were reported among the Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, the Palestinian higher judicial council denounced the shooting as “a despicable crime,” and identified the attacker as 40-year-old Yasser al-Sweiki, who was employed by a Palestinian court in Hebron.