Israel on Friday prevented an official Palestinian Authority (PA) convoy, which included PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, from entering Jerusalem on its way to the Temple Mount.

The convoy was stopped at the Hizme checkpoint and ordered to return to Ramallah.

Israel Police (MAGAV) – Photo courtesy: IP Spokesperson’s Office

The incident occurred amid continued clashes and violence on the Temple Mount and throughout eastern Jerusalem.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, Arab rioters hurled rocks at police forces at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City following Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

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Police forces used non-lethal riot dispersal methods to break up the rioters, in a clash that was foreseen by police who beefed up their numbers to 5,000 officers in the capital and deployed surveillance blimps.

Aside from increasing the police presence, Muslim access to the Mount was limited on Friday. Only men aged 40 and over, and women of all ages, were allowed in so as to weed out the young Islamists who repeatedly spark violence on the holy site.

Police precautions in Jerusalem come in light of a steep rise in Arab terror in the capital over the last week in time for Rosh Hashanah, during which Arabs repeatedly attacked police on the Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism – in pre-planned riots with rocks and explosives.

Israel has been widely condemned for defending itself from the Arab-incited riots. One of these condemnations came from  PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who on Wednesday called for violence at the Temple Mount against Jews, saying, “The Al-Aqsa (Mosque on the Mount – ed.) is ours…and they (Jews) have no right to defile it with their filthy feet.”

View original Arutz Sheva publication at:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/200826#.Vfyd07ShCFI