Clashes with Israeli police injure 42 Palestinians in Jerusalem

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Israeli police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled rocks at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, in yet another outbreak of violence in the place revered by Muslims and Jews.

At least 42 Palestinians were injured in clashes at Islam’s third holiest site, the region’s Red Crescent said.

Israeli police said they intervened when hundreds of people started throwing rocks and fireworks, including towards the Western Wall, where Jewish worshipers gather.

“We will continue to act decisively against rioters and bandits for public safety,” the police said in a statement.

Near-daily clashes have broken out at the mosque this month as Ramadan coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover and hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Jews have flocked to the heavily policed ​​site in the old city.

However, violence eased this week after the end of Passover and after Israel stopped Jewish visits to the massive esplanade that is home to the 7th-century Dome of the Rock and the 8th-century Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The complex is the holiest site in Judaism and the vestige of two ancient Jewish temples.

Ramadan ends next week, and the last Friday of the fasting month usually gathers large crowds in Al-Aqsa.

Israeli officials have blamed this month’s tensions on Islamist groups, including Hamas, which rules the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, saying they have encouraged young people to stage riots with the aim of arousing anger in the Muslim world against Israel.

Palestinians have accused Israel of not doing enough to impose a prolonged ban on Jewish prayer on the esplanade. Israel rejects this charge.

The Al-Aqsa complex sits atop East Jerusalem’s Old City plateau, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that has not gained international recognition. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they intend to establish in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

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