Israeli police detain 5 Palestinians in Jerusalem

By Fatma Abu Sebitan

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli police on Sunday detained five Palestinians near East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, according to a local resident.

“The five were detained as they attempted to stop two Israeli settlers from vandalizing Bab al-Rahma cemetery, a major Islamic graveyard in the area,” Khaled Abu Tayha told Anadolu Agency.

There was no Israeli or Palestinian comment on the report.

Notably, the Bab Al-Rahma is an ancient Muslim cemetery that has been an endowment property for more than 1,400 years.

The Israeli Antiquities Authority has been preventing locals of Silwan neighborhood in East Jerusalem from burying their dead in recent years in an effort to convert parts of the cemetery into biblical gardens.