Israeli Police Reopen Access to Jewish Visitors to Temple Mount After Closure

Israeli police have reopened access to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to Jewish visitors, which was restricted earlier on Wednesday, local media reported citing Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevy.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to The Jerusalem Post newspaper, the police closed the Mughrabi gate, which is the only way for Jews and tourists to enter the Temple Mount, due a group of tourists, which broke off the rules of visiting this holy site.

On July 14, two Israeli police officers died and a third was wounded after three armed assailants opened fire at the Temple Mount complex. The police pursued and killed the assailants. Following the attack, the site was cleared of visitors and closed off to carry out searches.

The Israeli authorities later decided to install metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount and mount video cameras to monitor what is happening on its territory.

The Islamic religious trust Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, called on Muslims not to pass through the metal detectors installed by the Israeli police.

The Temple Mount is under the autonomous administration of the Waqf and only the followers of Islam can pray on the site while representatives of other religious traditions are allowed to visit it freely. Events on the Temple Mount and even rumors about Israel's alleged plans to restore Jewish presence at the site have several times become a catalyst for large-scale escalations of the Middle East conflict with many victims on both sides.