Israel shuts Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound after unrest
Jerusalem, Mar 12: Unrest at a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site led Israeli police to shut off access to it on Tuesday after several weeks of tension at the location.
Police said they evacuated the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, after a Molotov cocktail damaged a police post.
Video spread online of scuffles between police and Palestinians before the site was cleared.
More than 10 people were arrested, police said, including two minors allegedly linked to the firebomb attack who will be brought to a court for a remand hearing on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported two people hurt, while police said an officer suffered from smoke inhalation.
Police said they found a number of firecrackers and Molotov cocktails in searches of the site.
Residents said police were also restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem's Old City, where the site is located.
Worshippers later prayed outside the locked gates of the site in protest.
Jordan, the custodian of the site, condemned its closure as "unacceptable".
Israeli police later announced that the site would reopen "to worshippers and visitors" on Wednesday morning.
Abdul Nasser Abu al-Basal, Jordanian minister of Islamic affairs, told state-run Al-Mamlaka TV that the closure was an "attack on religious freedom".
The compound is the third-holiest site in Islam and a focus of Palestinian aspirations for statehood.
It is also the location of Judaism's most sacred spot, revered as the site of the two biblical-era Jewish temples.
Jews are allowed to visit but cannot pray there and it is a frequent scene of tension.
It is located in east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.
Recent weeks have seen scuffles over a side building at the site known as the Golden Gate.
Palestinian worshippers have been entering the site despite an Israeli order that it should stay closed.
Access to the Golden Gate was closed in 2003 during the second Palestinian intifada over alleged militant activity there, police say.
Palestinian officials argue that the organisation that prompted the ban no longer exists and there is no reason for it to remain closed.
Israel and Jordan are believed to be holding discussions to resolve the issue.
Police have filed a request with Israeli courts for an order to re-close the building, but the court has reportedly delayed any decision to allow for more negotiations.
There are concerns in Israel that tensions at the site could boil over and become a political issue ahead of April 9 Israeli elections.
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Conspiracy afoot to 'tarnish' image of Dharmasthala: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.
