At least two Palestinians were in custody of the Jerusalem police after riots broke out on Temple Mount on Tuesday, for the second straight day, during the Jewish New Year holiday.
Authorities expect Jewish visitors on the site as of the end of the holiday in the the coming weeks, prompting an increase in security force deployment and alert.
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Police commissioner Kobi Shabtai tours the holy sites in Jerusalem
(Photo: Police Spokesperson)
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai toured the al Aqsa mosque compound with commanders earlier to inspect the situation.
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai at the Temple Mount, clashes with Palestinians
Masked men threw two stones and explosives and shot fireworks at police officers in East Jerusalem on Monday evening, the second holiday evening of Rosh Hashana.
Reports from Jerusalem on Tuesday morning showed footage of clashes between Palestinians and police forces in the Temple Mount, where two individuals were arrested. Simultaneously, the Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai's arrival at the Temple Mount, along with Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman.
Clashes at the Temple Mount on Monday morning
This after clashes on Monday ended in 14 arrests. Overnight between Sunday and Monday, several young Palestinians shut themselves in the mosque and hurled fireworks towards Jewish visitors .
At the Lions' Gate, which leads into the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, Muslims harassed and threw stones at police officers on duty. Most of the detainees were residents of East Jerusalem.
During the tense period of the Jewish High Holidays, the police is concentrating its resources in Jerusalem and its' Old City. Thousands of cops will be deployed nationwide at checkpoints on the roads, shopping centers, synagogues, and areas with large crowds.
The police said that this particular wave of clashes is in the shadow of terror threats which are constantly attempting to carry out deadly attacks.
"If not with missiles, terror organizations are operating through militants, Shabtai said as he described the persistence of the terrorists. "Even if it isn't organizations, there are individual terrorists roweled-up If not through the media, then through wild incitement on the internet," he said.
"We are doing everything to respond to such attempts, together with the IDF and Shin Bet, in order to thwart the intentions of the terror organizations and target the sources and funding of their incitement."
With the expected surge of visitors to the Western Wall, Temple Mount, and Jerusalem in general, authorities decided that the entrance to Jews on to the Temple Mount would be allowed as usual at the scheduled times, despite the tensions. The police is convinced that its forces in the city are prepared to handle the potential security challenges ahead of them.