Prayers cancelled at Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif complex in Jerusalem as attack threatens to raise Israeli-Palestinian tensions
Two Israeli police officers have been shot dead and three gunmen killed during an early-morning shootout in one of Jerusalem’s most holy and sensitive sites.
The attack – involving three Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin – took place just after 7am in the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif complex in Jerusalem. It began near the Lions’ Gate entrance to the compound, which is revered as a holy site by both Muslims and Jews.
A few hours after the incident, the chief of the Israeli police, Roni Alsheich, confirmed the death of the two male officers from wounds sustained in the attack.
The incident was among the most serious in Jerusalem in recent years and threatened to raise Israeli-Palestinian tensions. The two dead police officers were named as Hael Sathawi, 30, and Kamil Shnan, 22.
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According to police, the three men – residents of the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm who were armed with home-made Carlo machine guns and a pistol – opened fire on police near the gate before fleeing back into the heart of the compound which houses the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service later named the three attackers as Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Jabareen, 29, Mohammed Hamed Abd Al-Latif Jabareen, 19, and Mohammed Ahmed Mafdal Jabareen, also 19, noting that none had previous security convictions.
Police security camera footage, released late on Friday, showed the gunmen approaching two policemen at the gate from within the compound - raising questions about how their weapons were smuggled onto the site.
Two men with guns can be seen emerging through the low arched entrance and almost immediately shooting one of the policemen from behind as he is talking to his seated colleague.
As other Israeli police pursued the men, a heavy exchange of gunfire took place, startling early-morning worshippers in the central plaza, some of whom recorded the shootout on camera phones.
In the immediate aftermath the compound was cleared of visitors and closed, with police announcing that Muslim Friday prayers, usually attended by thousands, would be cancelled for the first time in 17 years.
Israel said the site would remain closed until Sunday at the earliest while it continued with security assessments despite calls for it to be reopened.
1.Three assailants shoot at police officers near the Lions’ gate, killing two
2.The attackers run into the compound, chased by police
3.The firefight ends near the Dome of the Spirits with the three attackers killed by security forces
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the attack in a rare phone call to the Israeli president, Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
Video footage recorded during the attack showed shooting and police running across the central plaza in pursuit of the attackers.
At one point, one of the gunmen, who is seen lying on the ground apparently motionless, is seen jumping up, amid a fresh exchange of fire in which he falls.
A police spokesman described the beginning of the incident.
“When they saw policemen they shot towards them and then escaped towards one of the mosques in the Temple Mount compound,” said Luba Samri. “A chase ensued and the three terrorists were killed by police.”
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The al-Aqsa mosque is Islam’s third-holiest site, while the seventh-century Dome of the Rock is also revered by Jews as the site of the historic temple. Jews are permitted to visit the site but not pray there, a prohibition supported by the mainstream Jewish Halakhic tradition. It is managed under a longstanding arrangement with the Jordanian-supported Islamic institution known as the Waqf.
The last time the complex was closed off to Muslims was after the 2014 shooting of Jewish prayer rights activist Yehuda Glick, now a Knesset member for the Likud, while the last time Friday prayers were cancelled was in 1990.
Netanyahu said in the aftermath of the attack that he would not change prayer rights at the site, despite calls by far-right politicians who sought to exploit the shooting.
The deputy defence minister, Eli Ben-Dahan of the far-right Jewish Home party, had called for Israel to “bolster its rule and control over the [holy sites], and to ensure that all Jews can pray there at any time in safety”. A second Jewish Home MP, Moti Yogev, said the compound should be “closed to Muslim [worshippers] for a long time”.
Netanyahu rejected the calls. “It was decided to shut the Temple Mount today for security reasons. Searches will be carried out to ensure there are no more weapons at the [site]. The status quo on the Temple Mount will be preserved,” he said.
The grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, told Palestinian news agencies he had been prevented from entering the complex. “We insist on reaching al-Aqsa mosque and performing prayers there. The occupation preventing us from praying marks an assault against our right to worship in this pure Islamic mosque,” he said.
The incident follows a reported move by the Israeli government to allow Israeli MPs, who are not allowed to go to the flashpoint site, to visit the Temple Mount on a trial basis.
Israel’s public security minister, Gilad Erdan, said: “The terror attack today is a severe and dire event in which all red lines have been crossed. The attack is still under investigation and will force us to look into existing security arrangements at Temple Mount and in its vicinity.
“I call on all public figures to do all in their power to calm the situation and keep the peace.”
A wave of Palestinian street attacks that began in 2015 has slowed but not stopped. Since September 2015, Palestinian attackers have killed 43 Israelis, two visiting Americans and a British tourist.
In that time, Israeli forces have killed more than 254 Palestinians, most of them said by Israel to be attackers.
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