06 November 2017
Israeli Public Defense Minister Gilad Erdan has announced a plan to establish a special police unit that will be dedicated to asserting control over Masjid al Aqsa in Jerusalem’s Old City.
The ‘Temple Mount Unit’ will be equipped with advanced technology and will gather intelligence purportedly to “protect visitors to the holy site”, the ministry said.
The unit will include approximately 200 policemen, in which 100 will be specially recruited to the police in the course of the next year.
In light of the announcement, Erdan said, that in his vision, “in two years Jerusalem will become not only the holiest city in the world but also the safest.
“With the most advanced technology, the city will become a model for cities around the world for its skilled policemen and for the technology it uses,” he said.
This plan reportedly also aims to intensify an Israeli armed presence in the Bab al-Amud area and throughout the old city, through deploying dozens of checkpoints, similar to military points already existing at the Damscus Gate and its surroundings in order to assert control.
Reportedly, the deployment of the Israeli forces and the border guards at those points, in addition to the deployment of 40 smart security cameras which the plan includes is to enable the Israeli police to monitor what is happening in the region.
The process of setting up these points will take place within a month, noting that it will highly affect the image of the old town, according to Israel’s Channel 10.
The Israeli occupation during the past has deployed dozens of surveillance cameras in the area, especially in the vicinity of Bab al-Amoud as well as a checkpoint in the area which is almost permanent where Israeli forces check the citizens’ ID cards.
Following an incident in July, the Israeli government decided to install metal detectors at the entrances of several gates to Masjid al Aqsa and closed others.
After large-scale popular resistance by Palestinians, Israel decided to remove the new safety measure and reassess its overt approach to the compound.
During a tour of east Jerusalem’s Jewish neighborhoods in August, Erdan said he was advancing a NIS 1.2 billion plan to strengthen the security infrastructure in Jerusalem, which includes adding 1,250 police officers to the capital, improving the salary of the officers and establishing a control center with thousands of “smart cameras,” which will be placed all over the capital’s Old City.
“I will continue to do everything that is in my power to make sure that every family that wants to come live here can do it and be safe,” Erdan said at the time.
