Jerusalem Police was preparing for the possibility of clashes between right-wing activists and Palestinians on and around the Temple Mount Tuesday morning. The preparations followed a call by Palestinian activists to come and "protect" the Temple mount after right-wing activists said they would ascend to the holy site.
Overnight Monday, police raided an apartment in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood and found extremist right-wing documents related to the Temple Mount. Police arrested one activist and took him for investigation.
On Sunday, Police arrested 18 Muslims during unrest that broke out on the Temple Mount after 50 protesters pelted tourists and officers with stones.
Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said the protesters were reacting to reports that a group of Jews bent on destroying the Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and building the Third Temple on the site planned to ascend the Temple Mount en masse.
There were similar rumors of such an attempt to be led by Likud activist Moshe Feiglin the previous Sunday.
The incident came after unfounded Palestinians reports that a group of “religious [Jewish] Israelis” tried to “storm” the Temple Mount on Sunday morning, according to Jordanian semi-official newspaper Ad-Dustour.
Palestinian sources claimed over the weekend that a group of Jews would try to storm the Temple Mount in order to “strengthen Israeli sovereignty over the site,” according to the newspaper.
No Jewish visitors were on the Temple Mount during the altercation, police said. The site remained opened to tourists throughout the day.
Melanie Lidman and Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.
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