JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli police on Thursday shot and killed a Palestinian man suspected of trying to kill a hard-line Jewish activist in Jerusalem, an incident that quickly sparked clashes between masked stone throwers and Israeli riot police, threatening to further enflame the already high tensions in the city.
Jerusalem has seen near-daily clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police, particularly around a contested site in the Old City that is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
Late Wednesday, a gunman on a motorcycle shot and wounded Yehuda Glick outside a conference promoting Jewish access to the site, a hilltop compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary.
The gunman approached Glick and spoke to him in “heavy Arabic-accented Hebrew,” according to Moshe Feiglin, a lawmaker with the Likud party. The man then opened fire at point-blank range, shot Glick three times and fled the scene.
Glick, an American-born activist and a well-known advocate for greater Jewish access to the site, remained in hospital and in serious condition on Thursday.