Israel releases 3 Turks arrested in Jerusalem without charge

An Israeli court on Saturday freed without charge three Turks who had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting police outside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a police spokesman said.

The men, described by police as tourists, were taken into custody on Friday, as Israeli forces battled Palestinians protesting against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as its capital.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the three Turks had tried to reach Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-most important shrine, where “they planned on taking part in a demonstration”.

Rosenfeld said the three Turks “carried out an assault on police officers there”. He did not elaborate on the circumstances, other than to say there were no casualties.

Read: Israel arrests 16 year old Palestinian girl who forced them off her land

Brought before Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Saturday, the men did not speak from the dock. Two of them flashed four-finger hand gestures that appeared to be the so-called “Rabia sign” of solidarity with Egypt’s ousted Muslim Brotherhood.

The Turks’ Israeli defence lawyer, Nick Kaufman, said police asked the court to keep them in custody so charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest could be brought. Kaufman told Reuters:

It was obvious that this was a politically charged case and the judge rightly released them

Read: 900 wounded, 4 killed incl wheelchair-bound Gazan as Israel cracks down on protesters

Tension has risen across the Palestinian territories since US President Donald Trump’s decision to officially recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory, and say the status of the city should be left to be decided at future Israeli-Palestinian talks.

While the international community has almost unanimously disagreed with Donald Trump’s announcement, reports suggest that the announcement was done with the pre-agreement of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi Arabia going as far as, allegedly, stating to the Palestinian President to accept a village on the outskirts of Jerusalem as the alternative Palestinian capital.

Read: UN General Assembly votes to condemn Trump’s Jerusalem recognition