At least 57 Palestinians were injured in a clash with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem on Friday, according to doctors, amid a wave of violence during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Israeli police say they acted after hundreds of people started throwing rocks and fireworks, approaching the Western Wall, where a Jewish service was in progress. An agent was injured by a rock and a tree caught fire from the fireworks. Two of the injured Palestinians are in serious condition, according to the ambulance service.
Witnesses told Reuters news agency that agents entered the compound after morning prayers and fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at about 200 Palestinians, some of whom were throwing stones. Police also used a drone to fire tear gas, according to the mosque director. Around noon local time (6 am in BrasÃlia), the situation calmed down and thousands of people were able to pray.
Several Arab ministers gathered in Amman condemned “the Israeli attacks and violations against the worshipers of the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, a temple administered by Jordan but with access controlled by Israel.
The Mosque Esplanade, where Al-Aqsa stands, 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. It is also the third holy place in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism.
Palestinians accuse Israel of restricting Muslim celebrations at Al-Aqsa while not doing enough to secure a long-standing ban on Jewish prayers at the complex, which Israel denies. As in previous years, authorities have stopped visiting Jews in the final days of Ramadan, a government official said.
The increase in violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories in recent weeks has fueled fears that the situation could escalate into a wider conflict, like the 11-day one against Hamas last year. The Palestinian group has already raised its tone and said its fighters “have their fingers on the triggers of rifles and will defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque with all our might,” official Mushir al-Masri told a rally in northern Gaza.
Since March, Israeli forces have killed at least 29 Palestinians in the West Bank, and 14 people have been killed in attacks on Arab streets in Israel, according to doctors. Tensions this year have been fueled by the fact that Ramadan coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover, which has drawn Muslim and Jewish visitors to the compound in Jerusalem, sacred to both religions.
The conduct of the Israeli military last Friday, when more than 150 Palestinians and eight police officers were injured in Al-Aqsa, “raises serious concerns that the use of force was widespread, unnecessary and indiscriminate,” a spokesman said. of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
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.
“Israel preserves and will continue to preserve the status quo on the Temple Mount, but under no circumstances will we accept rocket launches from the Gaza Strip,” Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Thursday.
Prior to the statement, Lapid met with US State Department Representative for the Middle East, Yaël Lempert, and US emissary for Israeli-Palestinian relations, Hady Amr.
The two American diplomats also met with leaders of the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the occupied West Bank.
“The president [da Autoridade Palestina, Mahmud Abas] called for urgent intervention by the US government to end once and for all the Israeli escalation in the Palestinian Territories,” said Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian Authority official.
