LATEST: US Criticizes Israeli Plans For More Homes in East Jerusalem
Israel’s top defense officials have advised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to deploy troops in East Jerusalem, amid escalating violence in the city.
“Defense sources” said Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and the leadership of the Israel Defense Forces and police have all objected the deployment, fearing that soldiers would be too quick to fire at Palestinian demonstrators.
The IDF suggested that additional Border Police detachments be put at the police’s disposal. Two Border Police detachments recently moved from the West Bank to Jerusalem.
Leading politicians such as former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and the head of the Shas Party, Aryeh Deri, have called for the military deployment.
The dispute arose amid news that three young Palestinian men were shot by Israeli soldiers during raids on neighborhoods in Nablus in the northern West Ban on Thursday.
Palestinian officials said the soldiers, in six military vehicles, clashed with dozens of men who pelted the troops with stones and the soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition.
The injuries of the shot men are described as “moderate to light”.
US Criticizes Israeli Plans For More Homes in East Jerusalem
The US State Department criticized Israel on Wednesday over the approval by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee of another 78 new homes in two areas of mainly-Palestinian East Jerusalem.
“We would reiterate our clear and consistent opposition to construction activity in East Jerusalem. During this sensitive time in Jerusalem, we would see such activity as inconsistent with the goal of lowering tensions and seeking a path towards peace,” spokesman Jeff Rathke said.
The rehousing of Israeli Jews in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods has been a catalyst for this autumn’s protests and clashes.
Rathke also criticized the Israeli demolition of the homes of Palestinians accused of recent attacks in Jerusalem, saying it is “counterproductive in an already tense situation”: “This is a practice I would remind that the Israeli government itself discontinued in the past, recognizing its effects.”
Israel Serves Notice for Demolition of More “Terrorist” Homes
The families of three Palestinians, all suspected of recent attacks in Jerusalem, have received notices that their homes will be demolished.
The notices follow Wednesday’s destruction of the home of Abdel Rahman al-Shaludi, who killed two people in a hit-and-run incident on October 22.
The families of Ibrahim al-Akkari and Muhammad Jaabis, both of whom also ran over Israeli pedestrians, and Mutaz Hijazi, who shot and injured right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick, all received demolition notices.
The Jaabis family said they will appeal the order.
After the demolition of her home, al-Shaludi’s mother said on Wednesday, “The Israeli occupation wants to break up our family and displace us. They think that by demolishing the houses of martyrs they will deter the people of Jerusalem and Palestine, but violence begets violence.”