At least 152 Palestinians were injured in a clash with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Friday (15), in yet another episode that revives fears of a wider conflict.
Most of the injuries were caused by rubber bullets, stun grenades and truncheon blows, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent NGO. The episode takes place amidst a context of great tension, after attacks carried out by Palestinians on the streets of Israel in the last two weeks and, in the wake of Israeli military actions in the West Bank, which also left people dead.
Thus, the clashes in Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site for Islam, located on the Esplanade of Mosques, one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East conflict, pose the risk of a wider conflagration such as the 11-day war. between Israel and Hamas last year.
The Al-Aqsa complex sits atop the plateau of the Old City of East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, meaning The Noble Sanctuary, and by the Jews as the Temple Mount.
In a statement, Israeli police said hundreds of Palestinians threw fireworks and stones at their agents and towards the Jewish prayer area near the Western Wall in the Old City after Ramadan morning prayers. Thus, the note reads, security forces entered the Al-Aqsa compound to “disperse, repel [a multidão] and allow the rest of the faithful to leave the place safely,” adding that three police officers were injured in the clashes.
Police have detained hundreds of Palestinians, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s spokesman wrote on Twitter. “We are working to restore calm on the Temple Mount and in Israel and preparing for any scenario. Security forces are ready for any task,” Bennett said.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry, in reference to the violence in Al-Aqsa, stated that Israel is “wholly and directly responsible for this crime and its consequences”. “Immediate intervention by the international community is needed to stop Israel’s aggression against Al-Aqsa and prevent things from spiraling out of control,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas, the radical Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, has said Israel bears responsibility for the fallout, and Jordan has condemned the Israeli action as a “flagrant violation”.
Jordan’s Hashemite dynasty is the guardian of Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem. Israel, which has recognized the Hashemite role as guardian of Al-Aqsa in the context of the 1994 peace treaty between the two countries, maintains overall control of security there.
Tensions were fueled in part because this year Ramadan, the holiest period for Muslims, coincided with the celebration of the Jewish Passover. In 2021, there were nightly clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police during the Islamists’ month of fasting, and threats to withdraw Palestinians from East Jerusalem and police actions in Al-Aqsa helped spark the 11-day war that killed more than 250. people in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
Since March, Israeli security forces have killed 29 Palestinians in actions in the West Bank, after 14 Israelis were killed in a series of attacks in the country. Israel claims the entire area of ​​Jerusalem as its “indivisible capital”, while Palestinians seek to make East Jerusalem, including holy sites for Muslims, Christians and Jews, the capital of a future state.
