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Temple Mount now central Israeli-Palestinian flashpoint

The conflict around the Temple Mount is increasing as Israeli-Palestinian peace talks might be on the verge of collapse.
Israeli policemen run in front of the Dome of the Rock during clashes with stone-throwing Palestinians after Friday prayers on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City February 7, 2014. Israeli police stormed the compound on Friday using stun grenades to disperse Palestinians, some of whom were masked, after they threw stones towards the Western Wall and Mugrabi Gate, no injuries were reported at the scene and 5 Palestinians were detained, a police

Assessments of the situation as well as in-depth intelligence reviews by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) regarding mounting tensions in the territories do not, for the time being, include warnings about a possible violent conflagration between the Palestinians and Israelis. For now, a third intifada is not featured among the working papers, forecasts or charts of plausible scenarios and expectations for the coming year. To extricate itself from its serious diplomatic and operational isolation and improve its standing among the Palestinian public, Hamas is trying to set the territories on fire. As a result, the number of terrorist attacks has risen steadily as has the number of disturbances.

The above notwithstanding, we are not talking about the orchestrated activity of organized cells, but more about what Israelis call “mood-based attacks.”

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