Israeli security forces detained 12 Palestinians near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron overnight, a military spokeswoman said on Friday. “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) arrested 12 wanted Palestinians in Beit Kahil,” she said. “The men were taken for questioning by security forces.” Palestinian security sources confirmed several people were detained overnight as Israeli forces searched houses in the village. They said some of those held were members of a charitable organization linked to Hamas. Israel blacklists Hamas as a terrorist organization and has cracked down on charities in the West Bank linked to the hard-line group. Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank after the army blocked them from attending Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, witnesses said. Israel restricted Palestinian access to Jerusalem to men older than 50 and women over 45, angering would-be worshipers eager to reach Islam's third holiest site for prayers on the first Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. One Palestinian was injured when he was struck on the head by a tear-gas grenade fired by soldiers trying to disperse a crowd at the Kalandia crossing, which leads to the city of Ramallah where the Western-backed government of President Mahmoud Abbas is based. Israeli police said some 90,000 worshipers attended prayers at al-Aqsa, which sits on the complex in the walled Old City known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif. Palestinian access to Jerusalem is already limited because Israel requires those who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to obtain hard-to-get permits. Palestinian officials have demanded that Israel provide open access for worshipers.
