Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have continued in the occupied West Bank despite the reopening of access to and from the area. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, ordered the closure to be lifted on Wednesday, five days after imposing it citing security reasons. Officials also reopened the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, where dozens of people were injured on Tuesday as Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli security forces. "Access to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is now free for both Muslim worshippers and tourists," Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said, using the Jewish name for the site. It had been closed to Muslim men under the age of 50 and all non-Muslims.
Clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police have continued in the occupied West Bank despite the reopening of access to and from the area. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, ordered the closure to be lifted on Wednesday, five days after imposing it citing security reasons.
Officials also reopened the al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, where dozens of people were injured on Tuesday as Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli security forces.
"Access to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is now free for both Muslim worshippers and tourists," Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said, using the Jewish name for the site.
It had been closed to Muslim men under the age of 50 and all non-Muslims.
JERUSALEM -- Israeli officials said on Wednesday that efforts were under way to calm tensions with the Obama administration and come up with a formula to diffuse a diplomatic crisis over building in contested East Jerusalem The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, hurried to distance himself from remarks made by his brother-in-law, Hagai Ben Artzi, in a radio interview on Wednesday, in which he described President Barack Obama as an anti-Semite. Mr. Netanyahu said that he "utterly rejected" the comments made by his wife's brother, whose hawkish views are well-known.
JERUSALEM -- Israeli officials said on Wednesday that efforts were under way to calm tensions with the Obama administration and come up with a formula to diffuse a diplomatic crisis over building in contested East Jerusalem
The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, hurried to distance himself from remarks made by his brother-in-law, Hagai Ben Artzi, in a radio interview on Wednesday, in which he described President Barack Obama as an anti-Semite. Mr. Netanyahu said that he "utterly rejected" the comments made by his wife's brother, whose hawkish views are well-known.
