TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – On Friday, two Israeli police officers died and a third was wounded after three armed assailants opened fire at the Temple Mount complex. The police pursued and killed the assailants. Following the attack, the site was cleared of visitors and closed off to carry out searches.
“About 200 Muslims came to the Temple Mount to take part in the afternoon prayer,” the Israeli police press service said.
Surveillance footage shows the first moments of the attack, in which @IL_police officers Hayil Setwai and Kameel Shanan were killed pic.twitter.com/Vc88VKp6JV
— Israel Police (@israelpolice) 14 июля 2017 г.
The Islamic religious trust Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, called on Muslims not to pass through the metal detectors installed by the Israeli police.
“Waqf leaders called on the faithful not to pass through the metal detectors. That delayed opening the Temple Mount. Some of the worshipers passed despite the Waqf calls,” Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan wrote on his Twitter page.
The Temple Mount is under the autonomous administration of the Waqf and only the followers of Islam can pray on the site while representatives of other religious traditions are allowed to visit it freely. Events on the Temple Mount and even rumors about Israel's alleged plans to restore Jewish presence at the site have several times become a catalyst for large-scale escalations of the Middle East conflict with many victims on both sides.
