Israeli forces are on high alert following severe clashes, as Palestinian terror groups call for a “Day of Rage” tomorrow.
By Erin Viner
23 Palestinian rioters were arrested during the riots, which began yesterday and continued until dawn this morning.
Reservists of ten separate Border Police divisions have been placed on alert after several officers were wounded in during overnight clashes with Palestinian rioters.
“We will continue to act with determination against violent rioters, we bolstered Jerusalem and the West Bank with troops to address such events,” pledged Border Police Chief Deputy Commissioner Amir Cohen.
Prior to spreading to other Arab areas, the violence erupted in Shuafat on the northern outskirts of Jerusalem; which has blockaded for days as police launched a street-by-street, home-by-home manhunt and strict vehicle checks for the terrorist who shot and killed 18-year-old IDF Sergeant Noa Lazar at a nearby checkpoint last Saturday. About 60,000 people live in the neighborhood.
Hundreds of Palestinians protested by hurling rocks at police and setting fire to garbage cans at checkpoints into Shuafat yesterday, where long lines of cars waited for entry out of the area. Many shops in the predominantly Arab eastern side of the city in a further show of protest, as private schools informed student to remain at home.
Rioter Khaled Alqam was cited by Reuters as expressing hope the demonstrations signal “the start of a civil disobedience (campaign).”
Last night, mobs hurled firebombs and rocks at Jewish-owned homes and vehicles, and set fire to garbage cans and tires in attempts to block entrance into Arab sectors. Police successfully launched a possible life-saving mission to rescue a Jewish family (of both parents, one child and two babies) who had come under attack when diving through Beit Hanina.
During a violent riot in Issawiya, two Israel Police officers sustained ‘light wounds’ in a Palestinian pipe bombs attack.
There were also incidents in several cities across the Palestinian territories in the West Bank, prompting Israeli security forces to close roads into the terrorist hotbed city of Nablus. A second Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Ido Baruch, was murdered while guarding a Jewish community between Jenin and Nablus on Tuesday.
Palestinian terrorists opened fire at Jewish worshippers visiting the Joseph’s Tomb shrine in the Balata village on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Nablus, under IDF escort overnight, although there were no reported injuries in the attack.
As part of a planned “Day of Rage” set for tomorrow, Palestinian terror factions in Jerusalem have appealed for more men to join them in the riots, and stage a mass presence during Friday Islamic prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in the Old City – often a flashpoint for major violence.
The latest escalation comes amid a crackdown by Israel’s defense establishment to root out terrorist operations. IDF, Israel Security Agency (ISA, Shin Bet) and Border Police Special Operations Forces continue to conduct counterterrorism activity as part of Operation Waves Breaker, launched in response to the wake of a deadly surge of attacks against Israelis that killed 19 people between March and May 2022.