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Israel deploys hundreds of troops across country to assist police with rise in violence

Israel's military has deployed hundreds of troops across the country to help police deal with a r...
Newstalk
Newstalk

18.17 14 Oct 2015


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Israel deploys hundreds of tro...

Israel deploys hundreds of troops across country to assist police with rise in violence

Newstalk
Newstalk

18.17 14 Oct 2015


Share this article


Israel's military has deployed hundreds of troops across the country to help police deal with a rise in shootings and stabbings.

Authorities say they have foiled two separate stabbing attacks today, by shooting dead two men they have described as "terrorists".

Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld says the latest saw a 50-year-old woman injured at Jerusalem's main bus station:

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The incidents follow attacks yesterday during which three people were killed and many more injured.

The latest violence has been driven by anger over Israel's occupation of the West Bank and disputes over access to the Al Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Palestinians fear the long-standing arrangement - which leaves the administration in the hands of mosque's Islamic clerics and allows non-Muslims to visit the site, but not pray - is being eroded.

They point to an increase in visits by hard-line Jewish groups, who demand the right to pray at the site and advocate the construction of a new Jewish temple within the compound.

Known to Muslims as the Haram al Sharif, it is the third holiest site in Islam, while for Jews it is the Temple Mount, the most sacred site in Judaism.

Clashes have taken place at the site in recent weeks as Israeli police barred entry to Islamic groups they accuse of planning violent protests.

Israel's government says it has no intention of changing access rules for the site, and say Palestinian claims to the contrary amount to incitement to violence.

Mr Netanyahu and the Palestinian president have called for calm, and security co-operation continues between the Palestinian Authority and Israeli forces.

However, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Ismail Haniey described the recent violence as a new intifada (uprising) and a justified response to the Israeli occupation and "crimes against Al Aqsa".


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