Police foiled a plot by Arab rioters to riot on the Temple Mount Monday morning and locked them inside the Al Aqsa mosque while clearing the way for Knesset Member Moshe Feiglin to ascend the holy site.
Photos from inside the Al Aqsa mosque provide ugly evidence of intentions by masked Arabs to attack police and Jews with firebombs and rocks as MK Feiglin and dozens of other Jews were to visit on Monday, the fifth day of the Sukkot holiday.
Jews had been prohibited from ascending the Temple Mount since the beginning of the holiday because of expected violence, but advance information that Arabs were stockpiling weapons inside the mosque Sunday night prompted police to surprise them and lock them inside shortly after dawn.
Locking rioters inside the Al Aqsa mosque has become almost a daily routine the past several days, but this time Arabs prepared themselves by beginning to place huge and heavy objects outside the doors to prevent police from forcing them inside. However, police showed up around 6:20 a.m. before the rioters could carry out their plan.
Entrance of Muslims to the Temple Mount for morning prayers was limited to men over the age of 50. Afterwards, police closed the gates of the mosque and locked the Arabs inside before they could riot.
Police then allowed Jews to ascend the holy site for the first time during the Sukkot holiday. Occasional sounds of firecrackers or firebombs were heard coming from inside the mosque and can be heard in the video below.
Feiglin said that the barring of Jews from the Temple Mount the past several days has strengthened the hands of Arab extremists, whom he identified as supporters of Hamas and ISIS.