A bomb injured at least 17 people, including 12 border policemen, outside the Damascus Gate of the Old City Sunday. According to early reports, most of the wounds were not serious. Security forces detained 70 Arabs for questioning.
According to police, a bomb or a hand grenade was thrown into the street during a change in shifts between border police patrols. An investigation is being conducted. The Palestine Liberation Organization reportedly claimed responsibility. Security sources said the incident may have been linked to the anniversaries of two events that occurred 18 years ago.
One was the arson against the Al Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount, an act for which a demented Australian national was convicted. The other was the founding of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist group headed by Nayef Hawatmeh with connections to Syria.
According to Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem, however, the attack on the patrols was a “spillover” from the tension and unrest in the West Bank during the past two weeks. It was the most serious incident in the Old City since last October, when one Israeli was killed and 69 were wounded by grenades thrown at Israel Defense Force recruits and their families returning from swearing-in ceremonies at the Western Wall.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
