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The Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa mosque
compound (AFP Photo/Ahmad Gharabli)
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Facing Arab outrage, Israel has
reopened the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to the public. Israeli authorities
closed it to worshipers on Thursday for the first time since 1967, prompting
Muslims to plan 'marches of anger' for Friday.
Jerusalem Police commander Moshe
(Chico) Edri made a decision on Thursday evening to reopen the holy site, which
had been closed in response to the shooting of a prominent right-wing activist,
Yehuda Glick, a day earlier, reports the Haaretz newspaper.
Some restrictions remain in place,
and men under 50 will not be able to visit Temple Mount for Friday’s Muslim
prayers.
The police said the partial ban is
designed to prevent Palestinian youths from staring disturbances in the area.
Security remains tight in Jerusalem,
especially its eastern parts and around Al-Aqsa, as Israel deployed additional
forces on Thursday. Israeli media said the police presence had tripled in the
heart of the Old City.
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Israeli right-wing activists demonstrate over
the closure of the al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, but
also the most sacred spot for Jews who refer to it as the Temple Mount because
it once housed a Jewish temple in the old city of Jerusalem, on October 30,
2014 after Israeli authorities temporarily closed the compound. (AFP Photo/Gali
Tibbon)
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Meanwhile the funeral of Mutaz Hijazi,
a Palestinian teenager killed by Israeli police, who said he was responsible
for the deadly attack on right-wing activist Glick, passed without incident.
Hijazi's killing on Thursday sparked
violent clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli police in Jerusalem.
The city has been in turmoil since
July, when Israel launched a military campaign against Gaza in response to the
kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teenagers.
The incident also triggered
retaliation by a group of right-wing Jewish radicals, who kidnapped and killed
a Palestinian teenager.
Al-Aqsa is Islam's third-holiest
site and is located at Jerusalem's Temple Mount, which is also a Jewish holy
site.
Israel controls access and this is one of many
grievances the Arab residents of Jerusalem have been complaining about for
decades.
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