At least 152 Palestinians were hurt in the ensuing rioting after Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, according to medics.
Israeli police arrived at the mosque before daybreak on Friday, according to the Islamic endowment that maintains the facility, as thousands of worshippers gathered for early morning prayers.
Online videos show Palestinians throwing rocks at police and police firing tear gas and stun grenades. Others showed people barricading themselves inside the mosque in the face of tear gas clouds.
The majority of the wounded were taken to hospitals, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency agency. According to the endowment, a rubber bullet struck one of the site’s guards in the eye.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had hampered the arrival of ambulances and paramedics at the mosque, while Palestinian media reported that dozens of injured worshippers were still stuck inside.
During the current escalation, Israeli police reported they arrested at least 300 Palestinians. According to Palestinian reports, the figure is 400.
Israeli police said they entered the compound, which is regarded as Islam’s third holiest site and is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, to disperse a “violent” gathering that had gathered after morning prayers.
After a mob of Palestinians began throwing rocks at the nearby Jewish prayer site at the Western Wall, they said they moved in “to disperse and push back” the crowd.
“They [Israeli forces] brutally cleared the compound,” Palestinian cameraman Rami al-Khatib, who observed the operation, claimed. They targeted mosque administrators, ordinary people, elders, and young people.
“They shot rubber bullets within the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, injuring numerous people.” “They were assaulting everyone, even the paramedics,” Khatib, who was one of dozens of Palestinians injured, said.
International News Agency reported from Damascus Gate that Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque site without warning and abused worshippers near the Qibly prayer hall after the morning service.
She went on to say that the escalation came as far-right Jewish groups called for raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Jewish Passover festival, as well as the performance of animal sacrifices in its courtyards, something that hasn’t happened since antiquity.
International News Agency’s senior political commentator, blamed “the occupation,” “the international community’s indifference to Palestinian suffering” during the Ukraine crisis, and “the Palestinian leadership’s immobility” as “drivers” behind the new developments in Jerusalem.
The Palestinian presidency issued a statement in response to the developments, calling the Israeli police raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound “a hazardous development” and a “declaration of war.”
It went on to say that the Palestinians would not allow Israeli occupation forces and Jewish settlers to gain control of the sacred site, and that the international world should “stop Israeli aggression.”
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau in charge of the Gaza Strip, stated that the Palestinian people would defend and safeguard the Al-Aqsa Mosque at all costs. He went on to say that “intruders” had no place in Jerusalem.
Hamas also urged Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Israel to come together in support of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On the other hand, Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, stressed that Israel will not allow “rioters” to interrupt prayer in Jerusalem and public order.
Gendelman accused “Palestinian thugs” of throwing stones at Al-Aqsa Mosque without cause in order to inflame the situation. According to him, Israeli police were compelled to enter the compound to disperse the throng and restore order.
In recent weeks, tensions have risen. Following a spate of violent attacks by Palestinians inside Israel, Israel has been carrying out arrests and military incursions in the illegally occupied West Bank, sparking skirmishes in which numerous Palestinians have been murdered, including seven since Wednesday.
As Muslims spend the holy month of Ramadan, tens of thousands of Palestinians are anticipated to converge at Al-Aqsa for Friday afternoon prayers.
During Ramadan last year, weeks of protests and attacks on Al-Aqsa turned into an 11-day assault on the restricted Gaza Strip.
The conflict claimed the lives of at least 260 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, as well as wreaking havoc on the already impoverished region.
This year, Ramadan falls on the same week as the Jewish Passover festival and the Christian Holy Week, attracting thousands of pilgrims and other visitors to Jerusalem.
