Tag Archives: Police

Muslim protesters clash with police in central Jerusalem

Palestinians react following tear gas that was shot by Israeli forces after Friday prayer on a street outside Jerusalem's Old city July 21, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

By Luke Baker and Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli police tightened security around Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday as Muslims protested against its installation of metal detectors at a flashpoint shrine holy to both Jews and Muslims.

There have been daily confrontations between Palestinians hurling rocks and Israeli police using stun grenades since the detectors were placed at the entrance to the shrine on Sunday, after the killing of two Israeli policemen.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet decided on Thursday night to keep the detectors in place.

In protest, hundreds of worshippers gathered at various entrances to the compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, before Friday prayers, but refused to enter, preferring to pray outside.

“We reject Israeli restrictions at the Aqsa Mosque,” said Jerusalem’s senior Muslim cleric, Grand Mufti Mohammad Hussein.

Muslim leaders and Palestinian political factions had urged the faithful to gather for a “day of rage” on Friday against the new security policies, which they see as changing delicate agreements that have governed the holy site for decades.

But by early afternoon, with police mobilizing extra units and placing barriers to carry out checks at entrances to the Old City, there had been little violence.

Access to the shrine for Muslims was limited to men over 50 as well as women of all ages. Roadblocks were in place on approach roads to Jerusalem to stop buses carrying Muslims to the site.

At one location near the Old City, stone throwers did try to break through a police line, and police used stun grenades.

The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said at least 30 people had been hurt, two seriously and some suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Ahmad Abdul Salaam, a local businessman who came to pray outside the Noble Sanctuary said: “Putting these metal detectors at the entrance to our place of worship is like putting them at the entrance to our house. Are you really going to put me through a metal detector as I go into my house?”

The hill-top compound, which contains the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, has long been a source of religious friction. Since Israel captured and annexed the Old City, including the compound, in the 1967 Middle East war, it has also become a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.

“This is our place of prayer, we have sovereignty here,” Salaam added.

SECURITY CABINET DECISION

On Thursday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan called Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to press for the removal of the metal detectors.

Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations’ special coordinator for long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace talks, appealed for calm and the White House urged a resolution. Jordan, which is the ultimate custodian of the holy site, has also been involved in mediation efforts.

But Netanyahu’s 11-member security cabinet decided in a late-night meeting to keep the metal detectors in place to ensure no weapons were smuggled in, a week after three Arab-Israeli gunmen shot dead two Israeli policemen in the vicinity of the complex.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government – which relies on religious and right-wing parties for support – had publicly urged him to keep the devices in place.

“Israel is committed to maintaining the status quo at the Temple Mount and the freedom of access to the holy places,” the security cabinet said in a statement.

“The cabinet has authorized the police to take any decision in order to ensure free access to the holy places while maintaining security and public order.”

As well as anger at having to submit to Israeli security policies, Palestinians are alarmed at what they see as a slow chipping away at the status quo at the Noble Sanctuary.

Since Ottoman times, while Jews are permitted to visit the area – considered the holiest place in Judaism, where an ancient temple once stood – only Muslims are allowed to pray there.

Over the past decade, however, visits by religious-nationalist Jews have increased sharply and some attempt to pray. While police are supposed to eject them if they do, the rules are not always enforced, fuelling Muslim anger.

In 2000, a visit by then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon triggered clashes that spiraled into the second Intifada, or uprising, when an estimated 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians were killed in four years of violence.

(Writing by Luke Baker and Ori Lewis; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Family of Australian woman killed by Minneapolis police hires lawyer -media

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel Photography in New York, U.S., on July 17, 2017. Stephen Govel/Stephen Govel Photography/Handout via REUTERS

By Todd Melby

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – The family of the Australian woman fatally shot by a Minneapolis police officer has hired an attorney who represented another police shooting victim in the state, local media reported on Thursday.

Justine Damond’s family hired Bob Bennett, a lawyer who achieved a nearly $3 million settlement for the family of Philando Castile from the St. Paul, Minnesota, suburb of St. Anthony, according to WCCO-TV.

Bennett could not be reached for comment.

Damond’s death from a single gunshot has sparked outrage among family members and the public in both countries. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called it “shocking” and “inexplicable.”

Damond, 40, died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, fired through an open window of the patrol car, after two police officers responded to a call she made of a possible assault in her neighborhood, said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the incident.

Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor, who fired the shot that killed Damond, has refused to be interviewed by the agency. His attorney released a statement in which Noor expressed condolences to the Damond family, but declined to discuss the incident.

Bennett, interviewed by the TV station, criticized the Minneapolis police.

“She obviously was not armed,” Bennett said to the television station of Damond. “She was not a threat to anyone, nor could she have reasonably been perceived to be.”

Bennett represented the family of Castile, a black motorist who was killed during a 2016 traffic stop. The officer who shot Castile was acquitted in a manslaughter trial in June.

Damond’s death, the third at the hands of a Minnesota police officer in less than two years, also prompted comments by Michele Bachmann, a former Republican presidential candidate and U.S. representative from Minnesota.

Bachmann, speaking at a Republican hog roast in Waconia, Minnesota, on Wednesday, called Noor an “affirmative-action hire by the hijab-wearing mayor of Minneapolis,” the Star Tribune reported. Noor is Somali-American.

However, Noor’s ethnicity is irrelevant, said Abdirizak Bihi, director of the Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center in Minneapolis. “This is racism.

“It’s shifting responsibility to a small, marginalized community rather than the city being responsible,” Bihi added.

Damond’s death remains under investigation. There is no known video footage of the shooting. Both Noor and his partner had their body cameras turned off, investigators reported.

(Reporting by Todd Melby; Editing by David Gregorio)

Israel faces mounting Palestinian anger over holy site metal detectors

Palestinians shout slogans during a protest over Israel's new security measures at the compound housing al-Aqsa mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing whether to remove metal detectors at a Jerusalem holy site whose installation after a deadly attack last week has stoked Palestinian protests, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Thursday.

There have been nightly confrontations between Palestinians hurling rocks and Israeli police using stun grenades in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem since the devices were placed on Sunday at entrances to the Temple Mount-Noble Sanctuary compound.

Tensions remain high ahead of Friday prayers when thousands of Muslims usually flock to al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest shrine, in the compound above Judaism’s sacred Western Wall.

Muslim religious authorities, who say the metal detectors violate a delicate agreement on worship and security arrangements at the site, have been urging Palestinians not to pass through, and prayers have been held near an entrance to the complex.

Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Hamas Islamist movement that rules Gaza, called on Palestinian demonstrators to confront Israeli troops along the enclave’s border on Friday in protest at the Israeli measure.

Netanyahu was due to hold security consultations over the issue, and likely decide on a course of action, on his return to Israel later in the day from visits to France and Hungary, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said.

Far-right members of Netanyahu’s government have publicly urged him to keep the devices in place at the flashpoint site, but Israeli media reports said security chiefs were divided over the issue amid concerns of wider protests in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

“The prime minister is considering whether to change this decision, and that’s his prerogative,” Erdan said on Army Radio. He described the equipment as a legitimate security measure.

Last Friday, three Arab-Israeli gunmen shot dead two Israeli policemen outside the Temple Mount-Noble Sanctuary complex in one of the most serious attacks in the area in years. The assailants were killed by security forces.

Israel briefly closed the compound, holy to Jews as the site of biblical temples, and install the metal detectors which it said were commonplace at religious sites worldwide.

Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank, in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally.

(Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Minnesota mystery: Why were cameras off during police shooting?

Don Damond is comforted by his son Zach Damond as he speaks to the media about his fiance, Justine Damond who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. REUTERS/Adam Bettcher

By Chris Kenning

(Reuters) – Amid public outrage over the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by Minneapolis police, the most persistent question was why officers did not turn on body cameras that could have captured what happened.

Experts on police procedure said the most common reasons for failure to turn on cameras nationally were officers’ forgetting or getting caught by surprise, not trying to hide something. The American Civil Liberties Union said the case showed a need for better compliance and training.

Justine Damond, who was originally from Sydney, was shot around midnight on Saturday by an officer responding to an emergency call she had placed about a possible assault behind her house in a quiet residential neighborhood.

Authorities said the officer shot the 40-year-old woman through the window as she approached his patrol car. Neither the officer’s body camera nor a dashboard camera were turned on, depriving authorities of potential evidence.

“There’s a knee jerk assumption that something nefarious is occurring” when cameras are not turned on, said spokesman Steve Tuttle of Axon Enterprise Inc, a leading maker of body cameras formerly called Taser International and the manufacturer of the equipment used in Minneapolis.

Malfunctions are rare, but when police are facing lethal danger, an officer is “not going to call time out” to turn on the camera, he said.

Officers currently must press a button to enable the cameras to record video and audio, and Axon will soon release a sensor that will trigger cameras to turn on when a gun is taken from its holster, he said.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving the police in Minneapolis, is seeking any civilian video of the incident. It said the officer who shot Damond, who has been identified Mohamed Noor, and the officer in the patrol car with him, Matthew Harrity, have been placed on administrative leave.

Police have declined comment on questions about the cameras, pending an investigation. The lack of video footage has led the city’s mayor to call for a probe, while the American Civil Liberties Union suggested the police violated policy by failing to switch on the cameras.

Advocates said that when used, cameras protect both officers and the public and in some cases have reduced use of force and complaints against police.

“They should be on, every time,” said Steve Soboroff, a member of the Los Angeles Police Commission. Rigorous training and accountability is needed to ensure compliance, especially when police officers are under pressure.

USE CAMERAS ‘WHEN SAFE,’ GUIDELINES SAY

The technology has been adopted by police departments across the country since 2014 after a police shooting of a Missouri teenager sparked nationwide demonstrations over police treatment of minorities. Video evidence might have clarified whether the officer involved in that incident was justified in the shooting.

Minneapolis rolled out cameras late last year, and the department adopted guidelines calling for officers to activate them “when safe” in a variety of situations including traffic stops, emergency responses, vehicle pursuits, searches and before any use of force or contact with citizens.

There is only spotty national evidence available about how frequently police fail to turn on cameras. An Arizona State University study in 2014 found fewer than half of police incidents in Phoenix were recorded.

At least 14 people were killed by officers wearing body cams that were either not turned on or inoperative since 2014, the ACLU said in December. Even so, that was a tiny fraction of police-involved shootings.

Jim Pasco, a senior adviser with the Fraternal Order of Police, said non-compliance among police is not widespread, and a Pew Research Center report earlier this year found 66 percent of police supported the use of body cameras.

ACLU analyst Jay Stanley pointed to a KSTP-TV report based on Minneapolis police data showing officers on average uploaded no more than 6.1 hours of camera footage in March.

The department on Tuesday said the data was part of a study under way and that no conclusions had been reached.

Despite legitimate circumstances when police cannot turn on cameras, the Minneapolis shooting illustrates the need to boost training and compliance.

“Training is critical,” said Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus of criminal justice at the University of Omaha. “This is a relatively new experiment, and there is a learning curve.”

(Reporting by Chris Kenning in Chicago,; additional reporting by Eric Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Frank McGurty and Cynthia Osterman)

Man pleads guilty in failed plot to bomb Colorado police station

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) – A man who prosecutors say planted a bomb outside a small-town Colorado police station to avenge a friend’s murder nearly a half-century ago pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

David Michael Ansberry, 65, pleaded guilty in U.S District Court in Denver to attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in connection with the botched bombing of the Nederland, Colorado, police station, a spokesman for acting U.S. Attorney Robert Troyer said.

The improvised explosive device failed to go off despite multiple attempts by Ansberry to detonate it with a cellphone, according to an FBI arrest warrant affidavit.

According to a memorandum prosecutors filed before the hearing, Ansberry belonged to a nomadic group of hippies called “Serenity, Tranquility and Peace,” or STP.

The itinerant group had a presence in Nederland, a mountain community about 15 miles west of Boulder, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. One of STP’s members, Guy Goughnor, was slain there in the summer of 1971.

“The Nederland town marshal, Renner Forbes, eventually confessed to killing Goughnor and was convicted for that crime in 1998,” federal prosecutors wrote in court documents. Forbes has since died.

In October 2016, a Nederland police officer discovered the bomb in a backpack, prompting the evacuation of the police station and nearby buildings before explosives experts disarmed the device.

Goughnor went by the nickname “Deputy Dawg” and a message was scrawled at the attempted bombing scene which read, “RIP Deputy Dawg and the date 7-17-71,” prosecutors said.

Authorities said Ansberry had harbored a grudge for more than four decades and traveled from California to Idaho, where he purchased bomb making components before arriving in Colorado.

Detectives were led to Ansberry after tracing the purchase of cellphones to a Colorado grocery store where security cameras captured images of Ansberry. He was easily identified by his diminutive 3-foot, 6-inch stature.

Federal agents arrested Ansberry at Midway Airport in Chicago as he was preparing to catch a flight to Baltimore, and returned him to Colorado.

Ansberry’s public defenders did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment, but the Denver Post reported that during Tuesday’s hearing, Ansberry said he pleaded guilty to avoid additional charges.

He faces up to life in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine when he is sentenced in November.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jonathan Oatis)

Australian government demands answers on Minneapolis police shooting

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel Photography in New York, U.S., on July 17, 2017. Courtesy Stephen Govel/Stephen Govel Photography/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called the fatal shooting of an Australian woman by a Minneapolis police officer over the weekend “shocking” and “inexplicable” and said his diplomats were seeking answers from U.S. authorities.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on Tuesday confirmed details of the shooting of Sydney native Justine Damond that have been reported in media accounts and also confirmed the identities of the two police officers involved in the incident.

Damond died of a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, fired through an open window of the patrol car, after two police officers responded to a call she made of a possible assault in her neighborhood, the agency said.

Turnbull said in a television interview on Wednesday morning in Australia (Tuesday evening in the United States) that he and the Australian consul-general in Chicago were seeking answers.

“How can a woman out in the street in her pajamas seeking assistance be shot like that?” the prime minister said in the interview with Nine Network. “It is a shocking killing, and yes, we are demanding answers on behalf of her family.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which reviews shootings involving Minneapolis police, was seeking civilian video of the incident.

The incident unfolded as Officers Mohamed Noor and Matthew Harrity were driving through an alley near where the shooting occurred, searching for a suspect, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said.

At one point, Harrity told investigators, he was startled by a loud sound near the patrol car. Immediately afterward, Damond approached the driver’s side of the squad car and Noor, who was in the passenger seat, fired his weapon through the open driver’s-side window, striking Noor, the agency said.

The agency said Noor, with the police department for 21 months, and Harrity, a one-year veteran, have been placed on administrative leave.

State investigators said agents interviewed Harrity on Tuesday. They said Noor has declined to be interviewed, adding that Noor’s attorney did not provide information on when or if the officer would be available for questioning.

Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, Plunkett said that Noor extends his condolences to Damond’s family.

Damond’s family joined with friends and others in a silent dawn vigil on Sydney’s Freshwater Beach, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. A didgeridoo was played and a single rose thrown into the ocean.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota have questioned why the officers did not have their body cameras and vehicle dashboard camera turned on at the time of the incident.

Keith Ellison, a Democratic member of Congress whose district includes Minneapolis, said Damond’s death stemmed from a “systemic problem.”

“We need to confront the reality of so many unarmed people killed by the same officers who swear an oath to protect us,” he said in a statement on Tuesday. “Justine’s death shows no one should assume ‘officer-involved shootings’ only happen in a certain part of town or to certain kinds of people.”

Damond, who was also known as Justine Ruszczyk, had taken the name of her fiance, Don Damond, ahead of their wedding. They were due to be married in August, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper. She owned a meditation and life-coaching company, according to her personal website.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee, Jonathan Allen in New York, Jamie Freed in Sydney, and Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Leslie Adler, Toni Reinhold)

Minneapolis police shooting of Australian woman sparks questions about body cameras

Justine Damond, also known as Justine Ruszczyk, from Sydney, is seen in this 2015 photo released by Stephen Govel Photography in New York, U.S., on July 17, 2017. Courtesy Stephen Govel/Stephen Govel Photography/Handout via REUTERS

By Todd Melby

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) – Authorities and activists on Monday questioned why Minneapolis police who fatally shot an Australian woman over the weekend did not have their body cameras turned on during the incident.

Justine Damond’s American fiance also wondered about the details of how she was shot. She had called the police to report a suspected sexual assault near her home, fiance Don Damond told reporters outside the home.

“We lost the dearest of people and we are desperate for information,” Damond said. “Piecing together Justine’s last moments before the homicide would be a small comfort as we grieve this tragedy.”

Also known as Justine Ruszczyk, she had already taken Damond’s last name.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota called for answers on why the two responding officers failed to turn on their body cameras when they arrived at Damond’s home in a quiet, upper-middle-class neighborhood shortly before midnight on Saturday.

Police shot Damond, originally from Sydney, through the door of their patrol car as she approached them in an alley near her home, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported, citing three unnamed sources.

Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau called Damond’s death “tragic” in a statement on Monday and promised a “transparent” investigation.

Damond’s father, John Ruszczyk, told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday that her death was “our worst nightmare”.

“Justine was a beacon to all of us. We only ask that the light of justice shine down on the circumstances of her death,” he said.

OFFICER IMMIGRATED FROM SOMALIA

The officer who shot Damond was identified by the Minneapolis Star Tribune and other local media as Mohamed Noor.

Noor’s lawyer, Tom Plunkett, said in a statement that Noor extends his condolences to Damond’s family. The statement did not describe Noor’s role in the shooting, and authorities have not confirmed the identities of the officers involved.

“He came to the United States at a young age and is thankful to have had so many opportunities,” Plunkett said of Noor, who was previously described by the city as a native of Somalia.

“The current environment for police is difficult, but Officer Noor accepts this as part of his calling. We would like to say more and will in the future.”

Hundreds took to the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday to protest Damond’s shooting.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which reviews shootings involving the police in Minneapolis, said the dashboard camera in the officers’ patrol car did not capture the shooting. The BCA is seeking any civilian video of the incident.

The ACLU of Minnesota called for the release of the audio from Damond’s 911 call, along with any audio from the officers’ dash camera. The group’s interim executive director, Teresa Nelson, said the officers failed to obey department rules by not having their body cameras on.

Damond owned a meditation and life-coaching company, according to her personal website. Media gave her age as 40.

Sarah Darmody, who said in a Facebook post that she had been friends with Damond since high school in Sydney, blamed the shooting on the gun laws in the United States, which has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world.

“There is no good reason and there are no other countries in the world where people would rather arm everyone than stop this happening,” Darmody wrote. “I’m so sad and so angry I can’t even breathe.”

Both officers have been placed on administrative leave, the state BCA said. Minneapolis police referred further questions about the incident to the BCA.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Allen and Chris Michaud in New York and James Redmayne in Sydney, writing by Gina Cherelus; Editing by David Gregorio, Cynthia Osterman and Neil Fullick)

Turkey dismisses thousands more police, civil servants and academics

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan walks to make a speech at the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, July 10, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey dismissed more than 7,000 police, civil servants and academics on Friday, the eve of the anniversary of last year’s attempted coup.

The latest decree is part of a crackdown triggered by the failed coup, which Turkey says was organised by U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former ally of President Tayyip Erdogan. Gulen denies the allegation.

In all, Turkey has sacked or suspended more than 150,000 officials, and arrested some 50,000 people from the military, police, judiciary, academia and other sectors.

The latest decree dismissed 2,303 police, including some from senior ranks, alongside 302 academics from universities across the country. The decree also stripped 342 retired officers and soldiers of their ranks and grades.

More than 240 people, most of them civilians, were killed last July when rogue soldiers tried to overthrow Erdogan’s government.

(Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Gunmen kill five Egyptian police south of Cairo

CAIRO (Reuters) – Gunmen ambushed an Egyptian security checkpoint on Friday, opening fire on a car and killing five policemen in an area just south of the capital, the state-run MENA news agency and the Interior Ministry said.

Three gunmen on a motorbike attacked police in al-Badrasheen area of Giza province, 30 km (20 miles) south of Cairo, killing two officers and three conscripts in the latest attack on Egyptian security forces battling an Islamist insurgency.

“A police officer who was near the site of the attack exchanged fire with the assailants forcing them to flee,” the ministry statement said.

Witnesses said attackers blasted the vehicle with automatic rifles then took equipment and threw petrol bombs inside the car before fleeing. Residents extinguished the fire.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Egyptian security forces have been battling the local affiliate of Islamic State in the northern Sinai area and attacks have spread to other parts of Egypt.

Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed since 2013 in the Sinai Peninsula. At least 23 soldiers were killed last week when suicide car bombs hit two checkpoints in the region in an attack claimed by Islamic State. It was one of the bloodiest assaults on security forces in years.

Islamic State has also intensified attacks in other areas, often targeting Coptic Christians. About 100 Copts have been killed since December.

In May gunmen assault on a group of Copts in a bus traveling to a monastery, killing 29 people and two bombings of churches killed more than 40 people a month earlier.

Church sources on Thursday said Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians and the Egyptian Catholic church have been told by church leaders to cancel all events, camps and activities outside churches in July because of a security threat.

(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Alison Williams)

Two Israeli policemen shot dead near Jerusalem holy site, gunmen killed: police

Israeli border policemen secure the area near the scene of the shooting attack, in Jerusalem's Old City July 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Three Arab-Israeli gunmen opened fire at police near Jerusalem’s holiest site on Friday, killing two Israeli policemen, before security forces killed the attackers, police said.

Israeli authorities shut the area after the attacks – the most serious incident in years close to the highly sensitive compound, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The closure stopped Muslims gathering there for Friday prayers, drawing a call for resistance from Palestinian leaders.

The gunmen arrived at the sacred site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, and walked towards one of the Old City gates nearby, police spokeswoman Luba Simri said.

“When they saw policemen they shot towards them and then escaped towards one of the mosques in the Temple Mount compound,” Simri said. “A chase ensued and the three terrorists were killed by police.”

She said three firearms were found on their bodies. The Shin Bet Israeli internal security service said the three gunmen were Arab citizens of Israel.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank. No group claimed responsibility, though the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, praised the attack.

“Hamas lauds the heroic operation in Jerusalem,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement.

Mobile phone video footage aired by Israeli media showed several policemen chasing a man and shooting him down at the site, which is a popular place for foreign tourists to visit. Israeli authorities are still working to identify the attackers, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom said a third policeman was lightly wounded in the incident.

Tensions are often high around the marble-and-stone compound that houses the Aqsa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock. It is managed by Jordanian religious authorities and is adjacent to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray.

PRAYERS CANCELED

Police said Friday prayers for Muslims would not be held at the site following the attack for security reasons, while forces scanned the area for weapons and investigated the incident.

Authorities have often restricted access to the Aqsa mosque when concerned about possible violence there, but a total shutdown is rare.

The Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Hussein, called on Palestinians to defy the shutdown.

“We completely reject the ban by Israeli authorities,” Hussein told Reuters by telephone. “We have urged our Palestinian people to rush to al Aqsa today and every day to hold their prayers.”

His call was later echoed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement.

In an apparent effort to ease tensions, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement there would be no change to the agreement on shared use.

The compound is a tinder-box for the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Under a delicate agreement, Jews are allowed into the compound but are not permitted to pray.

A wave of Palestinian street attacks that began in 2015 has slowed but not stopped. At least 257 Palestinians and one Jordanian citizen have been killed since the violence began. A few of the attacks were carried out by Arab Israeli citizens.

Israel says at least 176 of those killed were carrying out attacks while others died in clashes and protests. Forty Israelis, two U.S. tourists and a British student have been killed in stabbings, shootings and car-rammings.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem, where the Old City and the holy compound are located, after the 1967 Middle East war and regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a move that is not recognized internationally.

Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they want to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israel blames the wave of violence on incitement by the Palestinian leadership. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, says desperation over the occupation is the main driver.

(Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Luke Baker and Andrew Heavens)