JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced tougher penalties for Palestinian stone-throwers following three days of fierce clashes at occupied East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
“We will use all means necessary to fight against those who throw stones, firebombs, pipe-bombs and fireworks,” Netanyahu said. “Such actions will be met with very sharp punitive and preventive responses.”
The Israeli premier also said that Israel’s rules of engagement when dealing with “rioters” would be modified in “several areas”.
“A change in open-fire orders will be examined, along with setting minimum sentences for these offenses and the imposition of heavy fines on minors – and their parents – who commit them,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
He also stressed Israel’s commitment to maintaining the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which in recent days has seen several incursions by Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers that have led to fierce clashes with Palestinian Muslim worshippers.
“The rioters will not be allowed to prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount,” he said, using the Jewish term for the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
According to Netanyahu’s office, proposed policy changes – both in terms of rules of engagement and penalties for perceived transgressors – will be discussed further next week by security officials.
Tension has run high at Al-Aqsa in recent days after Jewish extremists called on followers to storm the flashpoint mosque complex during the Jewish Rosh Hashanah holiday, which began on Sunday and ended on Tuesday.
Over the past three days, Israeli Special Forces and police have used rubber bullets, teargas and stun grenades to disperse Muslim worshipers near the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Al-Qibli Mosque, which is also located in the Al-Aqsa complex.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the “Temple Mount”, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Some extremist Jewish groups have called for the demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that a Jewish temple might be built in its place.
In September of 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the Second Intifada – a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem – in which Al-Aqsa is located – during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.
