Police boost security in Old City and at checkpoints
Prayers will proceed as planned as thousands of Palestinians are expected to convene at al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount for the third week of Ramadan, though with a greater police presence.
By DANIEL K. EISENBUDBorder Police officers patrol Temple Mount(photo credit: REUTERS)
Against a backdrop of lonewolf terrorist attacks that nearly cost the lives of a Border Police officer near the Damascus Gate and female IDF officer at a security checkpoint separating Ramallah and Jerusalem, police said extra units will be on hand for Friday prayers in the capital.Prayers will proceed as planned as thousands of Palestinians are expected to convene at al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount for the third week of Ramadan, though with a greater police presence,” Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Thursday.“Apart from standard security measures, extra police units will be stationed in and around the Old City, as well as the checkpoints Rachel’s Crossing and Kalandia Crossing, where there have been terrorist attacks,” Rosenfeld said, adding that police have made additional plans to ensure the Muslim holiday will continue without violence.“Updates on the general security situation are being made all the time and if there are any changes... more security measures will be implemented,” he said.On Tuesday evening, a suspected 21-year-old terrorist was shot at the Kalandia Crossing security checkpoint, which separates Jerusalem from Ramallah, after he ignored warning shots and charged Border Police officers while shouting “Allah Akbar.”That shooting took place one day after a female IDF Military Police officer sustained moderate- to-serious wounds after being stabbed in the neck at the south Jerusalem security checkpoint Rachel’s Crossing by a 20-year-old Palestinian woman.Meanwhile, on June 21, a terrorist from Hebron stabbed a Border Police officer in the neck and chest outside of the Damascus Gate before the officer shot him.“Police are leaving nothing to chance,” Rosenfeld said.
