Israeli security forces shot a man in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday night, spiking tensions in the capital during the sensitive Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Police said the man was shot after he tried to take an officer’s weapon.
The officers responded with gunfire, “neutralizing” the man, said a police statement, adding that there were no injuries to the Israeli forces. It was not immediately clear if the man was killed.
Scuffles broke out shortly afterwards between the Border Police and the Arabs in the Old City.
Video from the scene showed the officers throwing sticks at the crowd as both sides fought and shouted at each other as they shouted down Old City Street.
The shooting took place near the Chain Gate, an entrance to the holy site of the Temple Mount.
עעליםים בין מג”ב לשווערים in the old city of בירושים@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/9OG3DMzpbB
— kánn news (@kann_news) March 31, 2023
The Temple Mount is the holiest site for Jews as the site of the ancient temples, and the third holiest for Muslims as the home of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
About 100,000 worshipers prayed at the site on Friday for Ramadan.
Army Radio reported that entrances to Temple Mount were closed following the shooting incident.
Police reinforcements were deployed to the scene.
In a separate incident around the same time in the West Bank city of Hebron, a soldier fired his rifle into the air while shouting at a man.
In a video from the scene, the soldier can be heard telling the man that he is not allowed to film. The IDF said the soldier was being investigated and the man had been released.
תיע חיג מחב: ל צ צ צ י י י לא לא לא במ ע ע עם ד ד ד ד ד ד ד ד@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/CHWLEbYUag
— page (@GLZRadio) March 31, 2023
Both incidents were reported shortly after midnight between Friday and Saturday.
