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In Pictures: ‘The battle for Jerusalem’

Recent violence in the holy city finds roots in Israel’s policy of ‘collective punishment’, critics say.

A relative of Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi, a Palestinian who killed two Israelis with his car last month, displays his portrait inside his family home after it was razed by Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem(***)s Silwan neighbourhood as Israel stepped up its controversial demolition policy.
Published On 20 Nov 2014

The attack on a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday was the latest in a series of revenge attacks that threatens to take the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to dangerous levels. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to win the “battle for Jerusalem”.

Taking a step back, the latest round of violence in Jerusalem was primarily triggered by the gruesome murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager, at the hands of  extremist Jewish settlers, on July 2. The incident sparked riots in occupied East Jerusalem.

A chain of events followed, including the latest war in Gaza that started on July 8, which left 2,131 Palestinians dead and 10,193 injured, while 71 Israelis were killed, most of them soldiers.

The situation again reached a boiling point on October 8, when clashes outside Al-Aqsa Mosque left more than 20 people injured.

The following week, fresh fighting erupted when hundreds of Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and clashed with Palestinian worshippers. 

Frequent clashes with Israeli police reached a level not seen since the start of the second Intifada in 2000. On October 22, a Palestinian man rammed his car into a crowded Jerusalem train station, killing two Israelis.

Tension has mounted as a result of right-wing Jewish groups’ demand to pray inside the Al-Aqsa compound, and the expansion of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has accused Israel of igniting a “religious war” by allowing Jewish worshippers to visit an Islamic holy site in occupied Jerusalem.

Another car-ramming incident took place on November 6 when a Palestinian man drove a vehicle into a group of Israeli soldiers on a road near Hebron in the West Bank, hours after one Israeli was killed and 14 others wounded in a similar attack in Jerusalem.

The killing of a 22-year-old Arab youth by Israeli police in the Galilee town of Kafr Kana on November 7 highlighted tensions that have been building rapidly between Israeli authorities and the country’s 1.5 million Palestinians.

In a provocative move, the Israeli government has stepped up punitive home demolitions, sending notices to families of Palestinian attackers.

On Tuesday, Israeli security forces destroyed the East Jerusalem home of Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi – a Palestinian who carried out a car attack in October – in a move that Palestinians viewed as ‘collective punishment’.

The demolition came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to respond harshly to a deadly attack on a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday. Home demolitions have long been used as a deterrent in occupied West Bank, but it was the first time they have been adopted as a matter of policy in annexed Arab East Jerusalem.
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An Israeli border policeman fires teargas during clashes with Palestinian protesters outside Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
A Palestinian uses a slingshot to throw back a teargas canister that was fired by Israeli troops.
A protester holds a Palestinian flag as he climbs a section of Israel(***)s controversial barrier that separates the West Bank town of Abu Dis from Jerusalem. A Palestinian bus driver was found hanged inside his vehicle on Monday, an incident Israeli police described as a suicide. The driver(***)s family said he was killed by Israeli settlers.
Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli troops near the barrier that separates the West Bank town of Abu Dis from Jerusalem.
Foreign activists and Palestinian protesters use a metal ramp to climb over a section of the controversial Israeli barrier near Israel(***)s Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem.
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An Israeli soldier watches as foreign activists and Palestinian protesters try to avoid tear gas fired by the Israeli army during a protest near the West Bank village of Hizma, southeast of Ramallah.
A Palestinian protester tries to hammer a hole through Israel(***)s controversial barrier that separates the West Bank town of Abu Dis from Jerusalem.
Israeli forces watch Palestinian protesters outside the Israeli-run Ofer military prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The attack on a Jerusalem synagogue marked a new level in the violence plaguing the city, but a tough Israeli response could trigger further escalation, analysts say.
Palestinian protesters demonstrate against the new concrete blocks put in place by Israeli security forces restricting access to the flashpoint Arab village of Abu Tur in East Jerusalem.
Foreign activists hold a Palestinian flag next to Israeli soldiers and border police during a protest against rising tensions in Jerusalem at a checkpoint near the West Bank village of Hizma, southeast of Ramallah.