In response to the stabbings, Israel has taken unprecedented measures, including setting up checkpoints in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem despite its long-standing assertion that the city is united.
In one area, men passing through a checkpoint Friday said they lined up and were ordered by troops to lift their hands and shirts to show they were unarmed before being allowed to pass.
Israel also imposed restrictions on Muslim worship at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site in Jerusalem’s walled Old City. Men under 40 were barred from the shrine, and hundreds of young worshippers spread out prayer mats on streets leading to the Old City.
The Muslim-run shrine, also revered by Jews as the holiest site of their religion, has been at the root of recent tensions. Palestinian and Muslim leaders have alleged Israel is attempting to change long-standing arrangements that bar Jews from praying on the hilltop compound, a claim denied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, several senior members of Netanyahu’s coalition have called for Jewish prayer rights at the site, once home to biblical Jewish Temples.
The widespread perception among Palestinians that Al-Aqsa is under threat from Israel has fomented tensions and violence.
Abbas has tried to lower the temperature, telling his security commanders that armed attacks on Israelis counter Palestinian interests. However, he has also told his security forces not to stop Palestinian stone-throwers heading to confrontations with Israeli troops.
Abbas on Friday condemned the arson in Nabulus at the site revered as Joseph’s tomb as “irresponsible,” ordered an investigation into who was behind it and said repairs would begin immediately, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Dore Gold, a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official, said the site was targeted “just because it is a place in which Jews pray.” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said the attack violates freedom of worship and that the military will “bring the perpetrators of this despicable act to justice.”
For centuries, the site has been identified with the biblical Joseph but some Palestinians say it was a sheikh’s grave or used as a mosque. The tomb has become a popular prayer site in recent years among some sects of religious Jews.
The site is located in an area under Palestinian self-rule and visits by Jews are coordinated between Palestinian security forces and Israeli troops.
