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The 1996 Western Wall Tunnel riots were a series of protests and clashes from the 24th September 1996 to the 27th September 1996. It involved widespread clashes between Palestinians, Israeli Police and Military, and the Palestinian Police. It resulted in the deaths of an estimated 59 Palestinians and 16 Israelis along with hundreds of injuries.^[1]

The demonstrations started in the morning of the 24th September in Old Jerusalem, following the opening of a second entrance into the Western Wall Tunnels in the Via Dolorosa within the Muslim Quarter of the city. The initial clashes were contained to Jerusalem but over the next few days spread across the West Bank and into The Gaza Strip. The event has been cited as a stepping stone in the collapsing of the Israel-Palestine peace process which had been deteriorating since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993.

The modern history of the tunnels underneath Old Jerusalem started in 1867 when a British Officer named Charles Warren (sent to Palestine by the Palestine Exploration Fund) uncovered the tunnels underneath the Temple Mount using kegs of gunpowder^[2]. Reactions to the archaeologist from locals were varied, with Jewish religious figures reportedly pleased with discoveries, particularly that relating to king Herod, whilst Christian and Islamic groups were reportedly "horrified" by the site, fearing that the way in which Warren had conducted his excavation threatened to collapse the sacred buildings above.^[2] A delegation wrote to the Ottoman Governor seeking to have the excavation stopped, and in 1868, whilst Warren was not present in Jerusalem, the Governor had the entrance sealed.^[2]

This Status quo remained for a century until the Six-Day War in 1967 when the Israeli army seized central Jerusalem, and Minister of Religions Zerach Warhaftig had the entrance reopened the following year.

The digging of the tunnel created upset amongst those above the site, shopkeepers and homeowners, who complained of cracks forming in their walls, as well as the Jordanian government who claimed that the digging had damaged an ancient Islamic school (a claim denied by the Israeli government).

Further contention began in 1982 when the Rabbi of the Western Wall, Yehuda Getz, had a passage unblocked that led directly underneath the Dome of the Rock. Getz had done so believing the Ark of the Covenant was located below the site within the Second Temple. Once news of the tunnel's opening spread, an underground clash between Arab workers and Jewish students that had to be seperated by police caused the government to order the passage resealed (as it remains today)^[3].

In 1990 the site was opened to tourists and worshippers. An issue with the Tunnel was that having a single entrance meant that once visitors had reached the end of the long passage, they would have to double back down the relatively narrow passage squeezing past others coming the other way. A plan to fix this was to open a second entrance at the end of the tunnel in Via Dolorosa. Led by archaeologist Dan Bahat, the end of the tunnel was extended towards the new entrance’s location, however a few inches of rock were left as it was recognised that the opening would be contentious and thusly in the hands of politicians.

Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres refused to open the entrance despite the requests of the Ministry of Tourism, seeing the issue as too contentious particularly in a time when the peace process was seemingly improving. This ended in 1996 with the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose campaign had focused on opposition to the current peace process. In September of 1996, Netanyahu ordered the entrance opened.

Around Midnight on the 23rd of September, a group of workers lead by Dan Bahat and guarded by Israeli police, set about opening the entrance from Via Dolorosa Street. Once opened they constructed a fake wall in front of the passage that would be broken by the mayor in an opening ceremony the next day.^[2]

The next morning Mayor Ehud Olmert, surrounded by Jewish religious leaders and politicians, announced the opening of the passage, taking a sledgehammer to the fake wall and revealing it. At attendance of the gathering was Grand Mufti Ekrima Sa'id Sabri who, according to Yisrael Hasson (deputy director of Shin Bet), immediately called President Yasser Arafat, saying "the Jews were digging under the Temple Mount.” Hasson claimed to himself call Arafat immediately following this but said he was unable to be reasoned with.^[2]

Within hours, groups of Palestinians were demonstrating near the site, with Police using rubber bullets to keep them away from the new entrance. A group of Palestinians threw rocks down onto the Western Wall Plaza, which resulted in Israeli police closing both the plaza and Haram al-Sharif. At one point in the day two vehicles were set alight.^[2]

On Thursday violence erupted in Ramallah. Around a thousand students marched from Bir Zeit University in the direction of Jerusalem, coming against an Israeli checkpoint at the border between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The students and others threw stones towards the soldiers at the checkpoint, who responded by firing guns into the air and then firing rubber bullets into the crowd. Palestinian police failed in their attempt to hold back the protestors and pulled back. At 3.55pm a burst of gunfire was shot from the Palestinian side, with Israeli soldiers returning fire with live ammunition, and a full firefight between Palestinian police and Israeli forces commenced. According to Palestinians, as well as Western diplomats, the gunfire began when Israeli forces entered Palestine territory (something the Israeli government denied). This continued until 6pm when leaders of both sides met and agreed a mutual withdrawal.^[4]

A similar event occurred in Bethlehem where a protest progressed into stone throwing at Israeli soldiers near the site of Rachel’s Tomb. According to Israeli sources, someone on the Palestinian side opened fire on the soldiers who then returned fire, with Palestinian police subsequently joining in. The violence was eventually ended with a mutually agreed ceasefire.^[4]

Fighting between Israeli authorities and Palestinian police was a particular area of contention, as the agreement allowing the Palestinian Authority to have armed police was widely denounced by the now ruling party of Netanyahu. The use of these weapons against Israeli forces served to harden the positions of those who were against the agreements.^[5]

Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu cut short a tour of European capitals to returning to Israel late Wednesday in repsonse to the outbreak of violence.^[6] After meeting overnight the cabinet made a statement Thursday morning blaiming the Palestinian authorities for the violence. The statement read that "The Government of Israel is demanding of the Palestinian Authority to cease the incitement and to restrain the violent activity in its territory against Israeli civilians and Israeli army soldiers"^[7]

In Nablus Palestinian protesters attacked the Tomb of Joseph, a walled enclave within the city that remained under Israeli control used for religious education. The attack resulted in the deaths of 6 Israeli soldiers and ended when a ceasefire with Palestinian forces agreeing to agreeing to evacuate the Israeli forces from the compound. However, they refused to abandon the compound leading to Palestinian forces protecting the site overnight.^[7]

In Gaza thousands of Palestinians marched on jewish settlements in the region, aswell as the Egyptian border. Resulting gunfights left one Egyptian soldier dead (it is unclear which side killed them).^[7]

Protesters in Jerusalem attempted to reach the old city area but were driven back by police.^[7]

In Ramallah in the West Bank outbreaks of fighting occured with Palestian police trying and failing to hold back crowds. The fighting included the deployment and use of tanks and helecopters by the Israeli side.^[7]

Clashes intensified even further on Friday 27^th September. The morning of the 27^th a large group of riot police was stationed near the Temple Mount compound. Following noon prayers, a group of Palestinian Youths started throwing rocks towards a group of police, with police responding by storming the Haram al-Sharif compound, utilising tear gas, rubber bullets, and (as claimed by the Palestinians) live ammunition. Whilst the police claimed their officers had come under “massive stone throwing”, both witnesses and reporters present at the scene claimed only a few rocks were thrown before police stormed the compound.^[8]

Violence broke out across towns and cities in the West Bank, Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Palestinian police who under instruction from President Arafat were aiming to quell the violence. In Bethlehem, Palestinian Police formed a wall to prevent a crowd reaching the site of Racheal’s Tomb. In Jenin and Ramallah similar clashes occurred with police attempting to prevent crowds from reaching Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks. In Jericho Palestinian police failed to contain the crowds who marched on a checkpoint clashing with Israeli police resulting in three Palestinians shot dead. In Tulkarm a group attacked a border police post which resulted in the deaths of 2 Israelis and 1 Palestinian. Police responded to this attack by firing on the group from helicopters.^[8]

In Rafah, a town on the Southern border of the Gaza strip, a group of Palestinians following noon prayers marched on a border post. The resulting violence left at least one Israeli officer dead and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the position. Subsequently a Palestinian flag was raised at the post and a hole was cut in the fence where Palestinians reportedly greeted Egyptians on the other side.^[8]

In the following days more isolated clashes occurred however they were far less widespread. This included a clash at the Al Arroub refugee camp as well as violence near the site of the entrance when the tunnel entrance was reopened on Sunday.

The UN security council met at 11am on the 27^th to discuss the events. The US whilst in attendance was publicly resistant to the meeting claiming it would serve little purpose. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns stated of the meeting that “the United States does not believe that endless rhetoric and endless debate thousands of miles away from this conflict are really going to do the trick”.

US President Bill Clinton called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to make a concession to the Palestinian side such as resealing the entrance, as President Arafat was unwilling to commit to any summit meetings without such a gesture. In response Netanyahu stated the he “did not regret that we opened the Western Wall Tunnel, which has no effect on the Temple Mount, and expresses our sovereignty over Jerusalem,”.

In retaliation to this statement the United States abstained from the next day’s Security council resolution rather than veto. Thusly the Council adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 1073, which called for Israel to seek “the immediate cessation and reversal of all acts which have resulted in the aggravation of the situation,”^[9]. The resolution was passed 14 to 0 with one abstention from the US.^[9]

This move by the US represented a relatively historical act as the US often utilises its veto to protect Israel from negative resolutions including 15 of the US's 24 vetos between 1991 and 2011. ^[10]