CAIRO/OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: The Arab League on Sunday accused Israel of "playing with fire" with new security measures at a highly sensitive Occupied al-Quds holy site.
"Occupied al-Quds is a red line," its chief Ahmed Abul Gheit said in a statement, adding that "no Arab or Muslim will accept violations" against the city´s holy sites.
Deadly clashes have rocked Occupied al-Quds since Israeli authorities installed metal detectors at entrances to the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, following an attack on July 14 that killed two policemen.
Palestinians view the measure as an Israeli attempt to assert further control over the site, the third most holy place in Islam and the most revered site in Judaism.
Abul Gheit accused Israel´s government of "adventurism" and said its moves could trigger a "crisis with the Arab and Muslim world".
The compound, which includes the revered Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, has been the focal point of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians for decades.
Meanwhile, three Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli forces late on Saturday as the army moved in to seal off an attacker´s home after violence over security measures at an ultra-sensitive holy site.
The UN Security Council will hold closed-door talks on Monday about the spiralling violence after Egypt, France and Sweden sought a meeting to "urgently discuss how calls for de-escalation in Occupied al-Quds can be supported".
The deaths followed bloodshed on Friday, when a 19-year-old Palestinian killed three Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and three Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli forces.
On Saturday, Palestinian youths hurled stones and petrol bombs as the army used a bulldozer to close off the 19-year-old attacker´s West Bank village and prepare his house for probable demolition.
Israel frequently punishes the families of attackers by razing or sealing their homes as a deterrent, although rights groups say this amounts to collective punishment.
Clashes also flared in east Occupied al-Quds and other Palestinian villages in the West Bank near Occupied al-Quds, police said, adding that anti-riot measures were used against them.
At the Qalandiya crossing between the West Bank and Occupied al-Quds, at least eight Palestinians were wounded, the Palestinian health ministry said.
A Palestinian died of wounds suffered in clashes east of Occupied al-Quds, the ministry said. It said 17-year-old Oday Nawajaa was hit by Israeli live fire at Al-Azariya.
Another Palestinian, 18, died nearby when a petrol bomb exploded prematurely. Israel´s Shin Bet internal security agency meanwhile said on Sunday it had arrested 25 men active in the militant Hamas group that rules the Gaza Strip.
The arrests included "senior members," a Shin Bet statement read, and was part of the security forces´ preventive measures in the wake of "the tensions around the Temple Mount". Also Sunday, a rocket fired at Israel from Gaza exploded mid-air, the Israeli army
said, causing no injuries. —AFP
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