Israel plans to annex Al Aqsa compound

Security forces fire stun grenades, rubber bullets

Israeli police clashed with stone-throwing Palestinian protesters on Tuesday in the sensitive Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City, ahead of a parliamentary debate over sovereignty of the holy site.

Israel’s Knesset was preparing to debate a bill calling for Israel to annex the compound, Islam’s third-holiest site, which has been administered by Jordan for 20 years under a 1994 peace treaty.

Jordan’s opposition Islamists, meanwhile, urged the government to freeze the treaty with Israel, fiercely objecting to any change in status of Jerusalem’s Muslim sites.

Israeli security forces entered the Al Aqsa compound just after 7.30am, and fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian protesters, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding there was ‘high tension’ ahead of the Knesset debate.

Stones thrown by the Palestinians injured two policemen while three protesters were arrested, he said. Palestinian medics said 15 protesters were injured by rubber bullets.

Azzam Al Khatib, director of the Islamic Waqf body that oversees the site, said he had called for a closure of access to the compound to avoid clashes. “Since yesterday we’ve been demanding the closure of the Maghabira gate (which leads to Al Aqsa compound), because of the provocations and statements against Muslims by various rightwing parties,” he said.

“We are waiting to see what happens at the Knesset today,” he said, adding: “There have been Jordanian contacts with Israel to prevent any moves that will affect Al Aqsa’s status” under Jordanian administration.

The Israeli Knesset, or parliament, is due to debate in the evening a bill introduced by MP Moshe Feiglin, a hardline member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, which envisages the “application of Israeli sovereignty” over the compound.

Jordan’s opposition Islamists called on the government to freeze the treaty, latching onto the bill as justification for severing ties with Israel.

“We urge the government to meet the demands of people who have repeatedly called for freezing and eventually cancelling the peace treaty,” the Islamic Action Front said on its website.

Jordanian officials were not immediately available for comment.