JERUSALEM: Security forces locked down parts of Jerusalem’s Old City on Saturday and an ultra-sensitive holy site remained closed after an attack that killed two police officers and heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Israeli authorities said they had come from the flashpoint holy site, which includes the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, to commit the attack. He also spoke of increasing security at entrances to the holy site when it reopens—likely to be a controversial move. The owner of a book wholesale shop in the Old City, he said he usually prays at Al-Aqsa every day. Israeli authorities also detained Jerusalem’s top Muslim cleric, grand mufti Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, as crowds gathered at the gates of the Old City after the attack, his son said.

Source: Manila Times July 15, 2017 11:15 UTC