Clashes erupted between rock-throwing Palestinians and Israeli Police after Friday prayers in the old city of Jerusalem on Friday, witnesses said. A Reuters photographer said that Palestinians threw stones and bottles at police in riot gear in a brief confrontation outside Damascus gate. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Israeli Police kept hundreds of young Palestinians away from Al-Aqsa Mosque in Arab east Jerusalem, citing security concerns. Many of them prayed at the entrances to the walled old city instead.
Israeli security forces were on high alert for Palestinian violence and possible Guerrilla bombings in the wake of Israel's helicopter gunship attacks on Thursday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The helicopters rocketed several buildings in the West Bank town of Ramallah and in Gaza city in retaliation for the killing of two Israeli soldiers by a lynch mob in Ramallah.
Bureau Report