Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov “Kobi” Shabtai on Tuesday toured the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City amid heightened tensions over the flashpoint holy site during the Jewish High Holidays.
Video showed Shabtai and other policemen walking on the Temple Mount as Jewish visits to the compound resumed on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, after scuffles between officers and Palestinians there and elsewhere in the Old City the previous day.
Palestinian media reported two suspects were arrested on the Temple Mount, apparently after clashing with officers.
Separate video showed Shabtai, Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman and other officers entering the Old City through the Damascus Gate, where footage showed Israeli police detaining a suspect.
There was no immediate statement from police on Shabtai’s tour or the reported arrests.
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The presence of Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount is opposed by Palestinians and the Gaza-ruling terror group has warned of violent “repercussions” over visits during the High Holidays — which began Sunday evening and run into mid-October — when the number of Jews who tour the site typically rises.
#عاجل مفوض شرطة الاحتلال "شبتاي" يقتحم المسجد الأقصى هذه الأثناء pic.twitter.com/sjjgtPE1y0
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 27, 2022
Hamas regularly describes itself as the primary force defending the Temple Mount, which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, against Israel.
The hilltop compound has long been the focus of tensions, but Palestinians have voiced increasing anger at the rising number of visits by Jews, which according to an activist group nearly doubled to a record high of over 50,000 during the past year.
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and is revered as the location of both ancient Jewish temples. The compound is Islam’s third holiest site and is managed by Jordan — whom Israel captured the Old City and rest of East Jerusalem from in the 1967 Six Day War — as part of a delicate arrangement with the Jewish state.
Shabtai’s visit Tuesday also came after a second straight night of clashes between police and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, while Israeli forces remained on high alert in the West Bank as part of a months-long anti-terror campaign.
