Israeli forces seal off West Bank sparking protests

ISRAELI forces sealed off the West Bank and massed riot squads around Jerusalem’s Old City and Arab neighbourhoods during Muslim weekly prayers yesterday, facing down Palestinian anger over Jewish settlement expansion.

After a week in which visiting US Vice President Joe Biden condemned Israel for approving new building just as Washington was pushing its key Middle East ally to relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians, police said a plan to avert a repeat of clashes in which dozens were wounded last Friday had worked.

Israel barred Palestinians from crossing from the West Bank into Israel and Jerusalem, and barred men under 50 from al-Aqsa mosque, the flashpoint holy site in the walled Old City.