Police close J'lem soccer stadium to Hamas rally

Jerusalem police on Saturday shut an east Jerusalem soccer stadium where a Hamas conference was planned for next week, police said. The police order, signed by Israel police chief Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi, was presented to top Hamas officials in east Jerusalem, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The police will forcibly prevent the scheduled Monday Hamas gathering from taking place at the stadium in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Bahir, adjacent to the city's Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. The move was the latest police crackdown on Hamas activity in Jerusalem.