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The Deadly Crisis Over Jerusalem’s Holy Site Isn’t Over Just Yet

Metal detectors outside Al-Aqsa Mosque are being removed but Palestinian protests rage on.

Palestinian protests raged into Monday night in Jerusalem despite Israel's surprise announcement that metal detectors recently installed outside Al-Aqsa Mosque would be immediately removed, a decision that dismayed supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and relieved those who'd warned of a full-blown regional conflict if they remained in place.

The Israeli security cabinet's sudden reversal came on the heels of an outbreak of killings and violence over the weekend that left four Palestinians and three Israelis dead and had begun to spread beyond Israel and into Jordan, Israel's close Arab ally.

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But security analysts and regional policy experts are skeptical that Netanyahu's latest security proposal, which includes beefed-up Israeli forces in Jerusalem's Old City and the introduction of sophisticated surveillance cameras, is enough to quell further violence and protests spurred by Israel's expanded role over Jerusalem's holiest site.

Fighting for control

"The security problem is because the Palestinians are not ready to agree that Israel will have more control over people entering the compound," said Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu and the former head of Israel's National Security Council.

Netanyahu's change of heart failed to convince Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said he would continue a freeze contacts with Israel, though it's unlikely the freeze extends to security coordination between the Israeli army and Palestinian security forces.

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