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The Palestinian Authority Appeals to International Forces to Protect Jerusalem | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Palestinians react to water canon and tear gas fired by Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem July 21, 2017. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma


Ramallah- The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday appealed to world countries to aid in protecting Jerusalem and Palestinians amid rising tensions over Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli authorities had sent extra troops into the occupied West Bank as international concern mounted over the deadliest outbreak of violence between the two sides for years.

PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah urged international forces and the United Nations to swiftly and actively intervene to protect Palestinians.

Hamdallah accused Israel for carrying out heinous killings and violence against Palestinians.

Palestinians in Jerusalem for the second week were refused access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, at the Israeli gates.

For the first time since the outbreak of the crisis, Israel has shown signs of a possible retreat. Israeli sources said Public Security Minister of Israel Gilad Erdan will discuss with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu possible alternatives to re-opening the site’s gates gates later.

Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai also announced that an Israeli technical committee would examine the possible security alternatives to the gates.

The signs of the Israeli withdrawal came “We’re willing to examine alternatives to the metal detectors as long as the solution of alternative ensures the prevention of the next attack,” the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said Saturday.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said one Palestinian was killed during a separate clash outside the city, taking the death toll from the past two days to seven. It did not provide details of how he died.

Three Israelis were stabbed to death on Friday while eating dinner in a West Bank settlement.

Hours earlier, three Palestinians were killed in violence prompted by Israel’s installation of metal detectors at entry points to the Noble Sanctuary-Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City.

Israel’s opposition leaders Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni called for immediate solutions after clashes went on escalating.

Herzog said that all political and security means must be activated to restore calm and reduce violence before it further worsens He called for calmness and foresight in order to stop the bloodshed.