Clashes Follow Shooting of Radical Right-Wing Rabbi in East Jerusalem

Rising tensions in Jerusalem took another turn for the worse Wednesday night after the attempted assassination of far-right activist rabbi Yehuda Glick. The incident prompted Israeli authorities to gun down a suspect in the shooting, and to shut down the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City, a site already at the heart of the growing conflict.

The religious compound, which sits on the Temple Mount, one of the most hotly contested pieces of land in the world, was closed by Israeli authorities following the attack — the first such move in more than 14 years. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas called the closure the equivalent of a "declaration of war."

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"This dangerous Israeli escalation is a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation," Abbas' spokesman told reporters. "We hold the Israeli government responsible for this dangerous escalation in Jerusalem that has reached its peak through the closure of the al-Aqsa mosque this morning."

The closure followed the shooting late Wednesday of Glick, a US-born settler known for his activism surrounding the Temple Mount. He has led other extremist settlers to enter the holy site as part of a campaign to gain more rights for Jews to pray there, a gesture seen by Palestinians as a deliberate provocation.

Glick, 48, was shot by a man on a motorcycle as he left a conference at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center. He is reportedly in serious but stable condition.

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Israeli police responded to the attack by quickly identifying and killing the suspect in the drive-by shooting, 32-year-old Moataz Hejazi, in a dawn raid. Hejazi previously spent 11 years in Israeli jails and was released in 2012. He was a member of the Islamic Jihad group, which published an obituary for him but did not claim responsibility for the attack, the Guardian reported.

Hejazi was found in a pool of blood on the rooftop of a house in Abu Tor, in Palestinian East Jerusalem, where he was cornered after hundreds of officers combed through the neighborhood searching for him, Reuters reported. Hejazi's brother and father were also arrested.

While details about Hejazi remain limited, according to Israeli media reports, he worked in the Begin Heritage Center's restaurant and completed his shift there before attempting to assassinate the right-wing rabbi. It's unclear what evidence led Israeli authorities to identify him as a suspect, but an Israeli spokesman said that a subsequent raid of his home revealed evidence that he was indeed responsible for Glick's shooting.

Israeli forces can be seen raiding the neighborhood in a video shared by Palestinian media.

"Anti-terrorist police units surrounded a house in the Abu Tor neighborhood to arrest a suspect in the attempted assassination of Yehuda Glick," Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "Immediately upon arrival they were shot at. They returned fire and shot and killed the suspect."

Israeli forces also fired "sound bombs" to disperse angry crowds and Palestinian youth throwing smashed tiles and bricks.

Following Glick's shooting, far-right Jewish groups called on supporters to march to the al-Aqsa mosque. Authorities sealed off access to the site to everyone — including Palestinians and tourists. Police had to physically stop right-wing activists as they attempted to storm the compound.

Only the mosque's director and his security guards were allowed in, prompting protests and group prayers on the streets of Jerusalem. The muezzin — the man who calls people to prayer from a mosque's minaret — was also reportedly denied entry.

"It is unacceptable that the al-Aqsa Mosque pays a toll for the events in Jerusalem," the director said, according to Palestinian news agency Maan. "The mosque is a place for prayer and worship and all Muslims have the right to access it."

Proud people of Jerusalem pray Asr prayers in the streets as the Israeli regime forces full closure of Aqsa mosque — Zalameh (@BDS4Justice)October 30, 2014

The Temple Mount — or Haram al-Sharif, as it is known in Arabic — has been at the heart of the conflict since 1967, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the rest of the West Bank, parts of the Golan Heights, and Gaza.

In 2000, while campaigning to be Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon visited the mosque complex accompanied by 1,000 police officers, infuriating Palestinians and precipitating a chain reaction that culminated in the Second Intifada, an uprising that lasted until 2005.

Speculation about a "Third Intifada" has intensified in recent months as Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police about restricted access to the al-Aqsa mosque. Thousands of Palestinians marched from Ramallah to East Jerusalem in July.

Tensions in occupied East Jerusalem have steadily escalated as hundreds of Jewish settlers have moved into Palestinian neighborhoods in the city. Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the construction of 1,000 new homes for Israeli Jews in East Jerusalem — drawing widespread international condemnation. About 500 Israeli Jews have recently moved into Silwan, a neighborhood adjacent to the Old City that is home to some 40,000 Palestinians.

Footage shows Israeli forces storming al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Watch here.

Meanwhile, Sweden became the third European country — after Cyprus and Malta — to formally recognize Palestinian statehood Thursday. The announcement was met with scorn by Israeli officials, including foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who said: "Sweden must understand that relations in the Middle East are much more complicated than self-assembly furniture at Ikea."

Liberman said that peace between Israel and Palestine would come through negotiations — a promise met by skepticism from Sweden.

"Our decision comes at a critical time because over the last year we have seen how the peace talks have stalled, how decisions over new settlements on occupied Palestinian land have complicated a two-state solution, and how violence has returned to Gaza," Swedish foreign minister Margot Wallstrom said.

United Kingdom's parliament recently voted in favor of a non-binding motion recognizing Palestine as a state, and Spanish officials are reportedly considering similar action.

Follow Alice Speri on Twitter:@alicesperi