Jerusalem attacker was member of Hamas

Temple Mount in Jerusalem was declared closed on Thursday morning after a Palestinian man suspected of being behind Wednesday's shooting of a far-right Jewish rabbi and activist was shot dead in east Jerusalem. Clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli border police broke out by midday on Thursday.

The suspect Mutaz Hijazi, 32 was tracked down by police to an apartment in the lower slopes of Abu Tor at 5:30 am this morning. According to reports he was affiliated with Islamic militant group Hamas and his family confirmed he had spent 11 years in an Israeli prison and had been released two years ago.

"The police anti-terror unit surrounded the house of the suspect of the attempted assassination of rabbi Glick with the intention to arrest. The suspect opened fire and they returned fire and shot and killed the suspect,” said Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld.

US-born Glick was shot and severely injured on Wednesday night outside a conference he had been attending to promote a Jewish campaign to allow Jewish prayer on Temple Mount - a site considered holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Glick is the founder of an organization that advocates Jewish prayer on the contentious site that has been the subject of violent clashes in the past two months.

Glick was taken to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem where his condition was reported to be "very serious, but stable," according to Haaretz newspaper in Israel.

Following the shooting, the Israeli Government raised the security alert in Jerusalem to "high" and sealed off Temple Mount to all tourists and locals, including Muslims and Jews.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke out against the move and in a written statement called the closure of the Al-Aqsa compound and Temple Mount a "declaration of war."

Abu Tor area of east Jerusalem in lockdown

Police cordoned off Abu Tor in the early hours of Thursday morning. Hijazi's body was taken away three hours after he was shot by police. A website of the Islamist group Hamas also identified the Palestinian as 33-year-old Mutaz Hijazi.

When DW visited the Hijazi house in the Abu Tor neighborhood police were firing stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd that had gathered. Locals said police blocked residents from leaving their homes and fired rubber bullets to keep them inside.

Police escorted the ambulance which carried Hijazi's body out of Abu Tor and arrested his father and brother.

Local Palestinian women gathered inside the first floor of the Hijazi home wailing. A crowd of 30 men gathered on the roof of the house washing away blood from the roof.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld would not confirm when the body would be released to the family and said the Temple Mount would remain closed through Thursday and that the situation would be re-evaluated later.