The East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, where Palestinians have been protesting for weeks amid an ongoing Israeli campaign involving the demolition of houses, has been turn into a closed military zone. Israeli security forces restricted entry into and exit from the town, and set up checkpoints and deployed forces at its entrances.
Located to the south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Silwan is one of the largest, oldest and nearest Palestinian towns to the mosque, as only the southern wall of Jerusalem, which is adjacent to Wadi Hilweh neighborhood, separates its northern entrance from the mosque.
