Jerusalem, March 31: Israel on Monday curbed travel from the West Bank and access to Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound as Jews began to celebrate Passover holidays amid raised tension with the Palestinians.
Four Israeli rightwing activists were briefly detained when they tried to make their way to the Old City in annexed east Jerusalem with two goats intended for ritual slaughter, police said.
A Passover animal sacrifice near the mosque compound in the Old City would likely have been perceived by Muslims as a challenge to the tense status quo of the site and could have sparked unrest.
As the Jewish holiday began, Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Monday, the military said, but there were no reports of any casualties or damage.
In the West Bank, at the checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, a small group of Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli security forces, who responded by firing stun grenades.
Jerusalem has been rocked in past weeks by the worst rioting in years, triggered largely by rumours that a rebuilt 17th-century synagogue was part of a plan by Jewish extremists to destroy the revered Al-Aqsa mosque.
An announcement of plans to expand settlement construction in Jerusalem has further fuelled the tension while also angering the US administration and casting doubts over proposed peace talks.
Police said Muslim men under the age of 50 and all non-Muslims were from Monday barred from entering the compound — which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Police did not say when the restrictions would be lifted.
–Agencies