Israeli Police Fatally Shoot Man at Jerusalem's Holy Site

Israeli police close a path leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after shots were fired in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli police close a path leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after shots were fired in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)
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Israeli Police Fatally Shoot Man at Jerusalem's Holy Site

Israeli police close a path leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after shots were fired in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)
Israeli police close a path leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after shots were fired in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Saturday, April 1, 2023. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Illean)

Israeli police shot and killed a man who allegedly tried to steal an officer’s weapons at a flashpoint Jerusalem site late Friday, police said.

The police said the slain man was 26 years old and from an Arab village in southern Israel, The Associated Press reported.

Authorities said the incident in Jerusalem's Old City happened when officers stopped the man for questioning outside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is the third holiest shrine in Islam.

Footage shared widely on social media showed Israeli police deploying heavily in the alleys and gates leading to the compound after the shooting. Scuffles broke out between police and Palestinian vendors and worshipers who spend the night praying at the mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.

More than 200,000 Palestinians had gathered earlier for Friday's noon prayers at the compound and the ceremony ended without the usual frictions with Israeli police.

The hilltop compound is revered also by Jews as the Temple Mount, and incidents in previous years have spilled into clashes in the West Bank and fighting between Israel and Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers.

Since last spring, violence between Israel and the Palestinians has been high.

Eighty-six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler gunfire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks have killed 15 Israelis in the same period.

Stone-throwing youths protesting police incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their future independent state.



Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Blinken Speaks to Israel’s Dermer about Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

 A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
A man sits on rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a meeting with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer in Washington on Monday, the State Department said.

Dermer updated Blinken on operational changes and policy decisions taken by Israel in response to a US letter sent in October, the department said in a statement on Tuesday.

Blinken "emphasized the importance of ensuring those changes lead to an actual improvement in the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, including through the delivery of additional assistance to civilians throughout Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in the statement.