Israeli police forces Sunday blocked the eastern entrance of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Issawiyeh with cement blocks, preventing Palestinians movement in and out of the area. WAFA correspondent reported on local sources as saying that police forces placed large cement blocks at the eastern entrance of al-Issawiyeh, without providing any specific reason. Locals told WAFA that that this Israeli lockdown comes as part of Israel's punitive measures against them, in light of continued clashes between both sides. Following a string of violent attacks and clashes that began in early October, 2015 – against the backdrop of Israel's repeated assaults on al-Aqsa mosque compound - Israeli authorities intensified their blockade on Jerusalem neighborhoods, including the positioning of checkpoints and huge cement blocks that hamper access between Arab neighborhoods and nearby illegal settlements. In mid-October 2015, the Israeli cabinet announced that Israeli police would be entitled to "impose a closure on" what it described as "centers of friction and incitement in Jerusalem" and "in accordance with security considerations.' Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has called the Israeli government's response to recent escalation in the area as "the very inverse of what ought to be done" toward ending the violence. Since Early October, over 74 Palestinians have been killed, and over 2,240 others have been injured.
