Traffic Restrictions in Parts of Jerusalem Amid Rising Tensions

Security tensions in Israel and the West Bank continued on Monday, October 5, with the deaths of more Israelis and Palestinians. Israel has imposed temporary restrictions on Arab movement in parts of Jerusalem. Monday coincided with the last day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and clashes involving stone-throwing and Molotov cocktails by protesting Palestinians, as well as the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound bombs by Israeli soldiers, have spread through the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, resulting in dozens of Palestinians being injured or arrested. Simultaneously, according to reports from both sides, Israeli soldiers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound amid Palestinian anger to prevent what they termed an "escalation of the situation." Israeli television reports that nearly 2,500 police forces have been deployed in the Old City of Jerusalem over the past two days. Israeli fighter jets also attacked several locations in the southern Gaza Strip early on Monday, interpreting it as a response to rocket attacks the night before on southern Israel. The rocket attacks caused no casualties or damage, but Israel claims it will respond to any rocket attack and holds Hamas, which effectively governs Gaza, responsible. On Monday, hundreds of Palestinians participated in the funeral of Hadeeqah Suleiman, a Palestinian from Tulkarm who was killed the day before by Israeli security forces in the West Bank, vowing "revenge." At the same time, another Palestinian protester was reported killed early Monday in East Jerusalem. In addition to Jerusalem, the city of Ramallah and dozens of other locations in the West Bank also witnessed intense clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli forces on Monday. Although the new wave of unrest began three weeks ago, just before the Hebrew New Year, tensions escalated sharply on Thursday night after an Israeli couple was killed in a shooting on a road in the West Bank, followed by a knife attack on Saturday night by a Palestinian youth against members of an Israeli family in East Jerusalem. According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an emergency cabinet meeting on Sunday, October 4, shortly after returning from a trip to the United States, to issue new security directives to address the situation. Under Netanyahu's orders, the homes of Palestinians who have been involved in recent attacks against Israeli citizens will be demolished "more quickly than before." Israeli security forces say investigations to identify two Palestinians responsible for the shooting of an Israeli couple on the road to the Jewish settlement of Itamar have made "significant progress." Tens of thousands of Israelis, including the country's president, participated in the funeral of Itamar and Naama Henkin on Friday, October 2. Four children of the Henkin family were unharmed in the attack as they were sitting in the back seats of the car. Israeli security forces also stated that 19-year-old Palestinian Muhannad Halabi, who carried out the knife attack on an Israeli family as they passed through an alley near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, was from the West Bank. Palestinians confirm that Muhannad Halabi, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, had announced his intention to attack Israelis on social media. This Palestinian attacker killed the father of a family and their relative in the Saturday night attack; the mother of the family was also severely injured by the attacker's knife. The Palestinian man who took the father's weapon shot at the family's children and other passersby, injuring one of them. Israeli police later shot Muhannad Halabi in the same alley. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority issued a statement in Ramallah on Monday blaming Israel for the widespread clashes. The statement from the Palestinian Authority claims that Israel is trying to compensate for its frustrations through these actions. Mahmoud Abbas also called on the UN Secretary-General to support the rights of Palestinians, and Mr. Ban Ki-moon expressed his "deep concern" over the continuation of the crisis.