Israeli riot police fought Palestinians who launched fireworks in the alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday (17) due to conflicts around the Al-Aqsa complex, a holy site for Islam. In addition, nine people were arrested after stoning a bus, according to police.
On Friday, another clash with the police had left 152 Palestinians injured at the Al-Aqsa mosque. The situation comes amidst a context of tension, after attacks carried out by Palestinians and citizens of Arab origin 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.
Israeli police said that on Sunday, several passengers on two buses were slightly injured when Palestinians threw stones and smashed the windows of the vehicles. Nine people were arrested.
Palestinians say Israeli police temporarily limited their access to the Al-Aqsa complex — which also houses remnants of Jewish temples — after dawn prayers to allow a group of Jews to visit the site accompanied by an escort.
“We saw two groups [de judeus]we started to sing and the forces [israelenses] tried to stop me,” said Abu Baker Shemi, a devout Muslim from the city of Acre.
Police said they took steps to prevent the visit from being interrupted by hundreds of protesters, some of them masked, who were seen collecting rocks in the complex. Freedom of Muslim worship was preserved, however, police said.
The violence at the Al-Aqsa compound began on Friday and raised new fears of a return to conflict around the site – at a time when Muslims observe Ramadan, Jews celebrate Passover and Christians celebrate Easter. On Friday, at least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with police.
The third holiest place for Islam, Al-Aqsa is located on the Esplanade of the Mosques, atop the plateau of the Old City of East Jerusalem, and is known to Muslims as Al-Haram al-Sharif, meaning The Noble Sanctuary, and by the Jews as the Temple Mount.
The Old City in East Jerusalem was captured by Israel in the 1967 war and is targeted by Palestinians as their capital in a future state.
Tensions in the region 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 an 11-day war that killed more than 250. people in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
