Chaos Strikes Temple Mount

[Zak]

It had only been a few days since Naftali Bennett had taken office as Prime Minister of Israel again which had caused a stir within the Knesset as many members favoured a peace deal with the Palestinians but his new party was promoting the ideology that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people and the opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Israel Border Police was on high alert with the impending arrival of the Prime Minister to the Temple Mount which was no doubt going to cause a potential stir. Over three hundred personnel had been drafted in for the security operation which was deemed a high risk operation to protect the Prime Minister at all costs. Each personnel wore full uniform with their bulletproof vests and carried a fully loaded CAR-15 and Glock 17 handgun with three extra magazines for each weapon. Personnel had been ordered to patrol the perimeter in groups of four and to conduct stop checks if required.

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Soon after, a motorcade of twelve armoured vehicles approached the entrance and out stepped the Prime Minister, wearing a traditional Kippah on his head, from his vehicle as press cameras captured the moment of the Prime Minister arriving at Temple Mount with the Israel Border Police holding them back to not affect the security operation. He approached the Western Wall flanked by security agents who, alongside the Israel Border Police watched out for any security risks whilst the Prime Minister was praying. The Prime Minister wrote a prayer on small piece of paper and pushed it in between the cracks of the wall which was customary when praying at the Western Wall.

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During this, a large crowd of Arab Palestinians had marched towards Temple Mount upon hearing the Prime Minister was in the vicinity. They marched chanting anti-Jewish slogans and marched with Palestinian flags. Some carried handguns which had been captured by the Israel Border Police's counter-terror undercover unit which was conducted in civilian Arab disguise to blend in with the community. It was decided that the Prime Minister was to be evacuated by his security detail and driven back to his residence. This was however unknown to the protestors who still kept marching and protesting.

 

[Zak]

The number of protestors tripled within hours of the Prime Minister being moved from the Temple Mount back to his residence, the number of protestors numbered around 6,000 with more and more men, women and children joining throughout the day. There was some violent outbursts shortly after the Prime Minister leaving with several arrests being made with those being handed over to Shin Bet for questioning. The Israel Border Police's counter-terror undercover unit was still hard at work arresting those who they suspected of carrying weapons, the unit was also responsible for making arrests of protest leaders.

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It wasn't until the evening when things fell out of control, local Palestinian youths and young men took to the streets where they threw rocks and stones at law enforcement backing out from the Temple Mount compound. The Israel Border Police would deploy extra units to the area to combat the threat of growing anti-social behaviour and the chanting of anti-Jewish slogans and chants. Israel Police also decided to deploy the Special Patrol Unit which was responsible for crowd control and riot prevention.

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[Zak]

The day after saw the streets littered with rocks and stones as well as the smell of burning tire lingered throughout the air. Following Friday prayers, large riots broke out again around the Old City of Jerusalem. Israeli Police fired rubber bullets at Palestinians at the Temple Mount complex throwing stones over the Western Wall at Jewish worshippers which had been captured by press officials who published this over social media and on their respective news outlet websites. They decided to switch to live ammunition after orders given by the Ministry of Internal Security after the Chief of Jerusalem's Police Force was knocked unconscious whilst praying at the Western Wall. A number of bullets were fired in the air to disperse crowds as a number of arrests had been made across the city.

Water cannons and riot trained officers had been drafted in from other units across Israel with the intention of dispersing the riots, a number of officers did suffer injuries at the hands of Palestinian rioters which they received appropriate medical treatment. Water cannon trucks had also been brought in to disperse rioters who had stuck around and did not return to their homes. By the end of the day, no Palestinians had been killed and three hundred had been wounded, seventy Israeli policemen were also injured in the clashes due to stone and rock throwing which was common throughout Jerusalem.

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