Prior information that reached Jerusalem District Police regarding plans of family members of two Israeli Arab terrorists from Umm al-Fahm who murdered two Israeli Border Guard officers on the Temple Mount last month to disrupt the public order near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has led to a decision to bar them from entering the compound on Tuesday. They were sent back to their homes in northern Israel.
According to Ma’ariv, at noon on Tuesday police received credible information that a group of Umm al-Fahm residents, all members of the families of the two killed terrorists, intended to disrupt the public order on the Temple Mount. A police force was prepared in advance, and indeed, upon the arrival of the family members they were asked to make a U-turn and leave without being permitted to enter the Temple Mount area. Police confirmed this report.
The attack, on July 14, took place just after 7 AM in the Temple Mount compound. The three Israeli Arab cop killers were killed as they were attempting the flee the scene. Then, in less than an hour, a Facebook post entered by one of them attracted more than 1,200 comments, a symbol of the way social media celebrate ruthless hatred and bloodshed.
Umm al-Fahm, with its 52,000 residents, is the third largest Arab city in Israel, and the hometown of radical Islamist Raed Salah – a frequent visitor in the Israeli security prison system. Thousands attended the night-time funeral of the three killers, and, shortly thereafter, an Israeli court revoked the citizenship of an Umm al-Fahm terrorist who was involved in ramming and stabbing Jews.