JERUSALEM: A man detained by Israeli police near a flashpoint mosque compound in Jerusalem today grabbed an officer’s gun and fired it, prompting the unit to shoot him dead, the force said today, describing the incident as a terrorist attack.
The incident at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, an icon of Palestinian nationalism, came at a high point of Muslim attendance for the holy month of Ramadan.
The police statement identified the slain man as a 26-year-old resident of Hura, a Bedouin town in south Israel.
There were no police casualties, it added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the account independently.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions are simmering after months of violence in areas of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.