JERUSALEM, March 16 (Reuters) – Shrapnel from ballistic missiles fired by Iran and debris from the Israeli interceptors that shot them down fell on Monday around Jerusalem’s walled Old City and some of its most sacred Christian, Muslim and Jewish sites, Israeli police said.
There were no casualties or major damage reported at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or the nearby hilltop plateau known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa compound and to Jews as Temple Mount, a flashpoint site that is holy to both faiths.
Photos distributed by police showed three officers carrying what appeared to be a large metal ring-shaped part of a missile off a red-tiled roof adjacent to the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial and a popular pilgrimage site.
Another image showed a police cordon around a small area in the Al-Aqsa compound plaza which also houses the golden Dome of the Rock, with small fragments strewn on the floor.
“Jerusalem District police, bomb disposal teams, and Border Police units have secured the sites and are currently working to eliminate any remaining risk to the public,” police said in a statement.
(Reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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