After security forces clashed on Sunday with Muslim rioters on the Temple Mount and elsewhere in east Jerusalem, police blamed Hamas and the Islamic Movement for once again inciting Israel's Arab population to violence in the capital. "Throughout the day, very large groups of Arab residents of east Jerusalem and other Israeli Arabs have come to the area at the encouragement of the Islamic Movement," Police Chief Commissioner Insp.-Gen. David Cohen told reporters. "I urge them (the Islamic Movement) to show restraint and not to incite."
Cohen went on to say that police would deal with all rioters on the Temple Mount as well as the inciters "with a strong hand."
Police also released a separate statement blaming Hamas for inciting violence in a bid to "disrupt order on the Temple Mount."