Jerusalem Tunnel Opening Sparks Deadly Palestinian Riots
Netanyahu's decision to open archaeological tunnel near Al-Aqsa Mosque triggers worst violence since Oslo Accords, killing 80.
The opening of a new exit to an archaeological tunnel near Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque has triggered the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence since the signing of the Oslo Accords, with at least 80 people killed and hundreds wounded over three days of fierce clashes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to open the tunnel, which runs along the Western Wall toward the Via Dolorosa, sparked immediate Palestinian protests. Palestinians view the tunnel as an attempt to undermine the Islamic holy sites and assert Jewish control over East Jerusalem.
The violence erupted when Palestinian police, for the first time, turned their weapons on Israeli soldiers. Gun battles raged in the West Bank and Gaza, with Palestinian police joining stone-throwing demonstrators in confronting Israeli troops.
The clashes spread from Jerusalem to Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus, and Gaza, marking the most serious breakdown in Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. Israeli tanks and helicopters were deployed to evacuate besieged soldiers.
Yasser Arafat accused Netanyahu of deliberately provoking the crisis, while the Israeli prime minister blamed Palestinian incitement. The violence has shattered the already fragile relationship between the new Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.
President Clinton summoned Netanyahu, Arafat, and Jordan’s King Hussein to emergency talks in Washington. The tunnel crisis has demonstrated how a single act in Jerusalem’s contested holy sites can ignite widespread violence, undermining years of painstaking peace efforts.