Israel vows "harsh offensive," banning Palestinians from Jerusalem's Old City

World

Israel vows “harsh offensive,” banning Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City

Israel took the rare and drastic step of barring Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday as fears of a further escalation in violence mounted after attacks that killed two Israelis and wounded a child. Israel’s prime minister took harsh measures to counter rising violence that has focused in recent weeks over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site sacred to both Muslims and Jews, in a series of so-called “lone wolf” Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

There have been fears that the sporadic violence could spin out of control, with some warning of the risk of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Many Israeli leaders cited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hard-line speech to the U.N. General Assembly last week, declaring that he cannot continue to be bound by agreements to Israel, as incitement for the violence. Meanwhile, for Palestinians, Israel’s two-day closure of the Old City is a further sign of intent to take over the hallowed compound, coming in the wake of restrictions on young male worshippers and repeated police incursions.