The shrine, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, has often been the focus of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions have already risen amid a recent wave of violence. Clashes on the spot last year helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.
Conflicts come at a particularly sensitive time. Ramadan this year coincides with Easter, a major Jewish weekly holiday that begins on Friday at sunset, and the Christian holy week, which culminates on Easter Sunday. The festivities are expected to bring tens of thousands of worshipers to the Old City of Jerusalem, home to important sites sacred to all three religions.
Hours after the clashes began, police said they had stopped the violence and arrested “hundreds” of suspects. The mosque reopened and about 60,000 people attended the main Friday prayers at noon, according to the Islamic legacy that manages the site.
After the prayers, thousands of Palestinians marched around the esplanade, shouting “with our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for you, Al Aqsa”, in addition to slogans in support of Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. Some carried Palestinian flags and Hamas flags.
Israeli authorities said they had held talks with Muslim leaders before the violence broke out to ensure calm. However, police say Palestinians piled stones and other objects inside the compound and hurled stones at the Mughrabi Gate, which leads to the Western Wall – an important Jewish shrine – sparking violence.
Palestinian witnesses, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said a small group of Palestinians hurled stones at police, who then stormed the compound, setting it on fire.
Videos circulating on the Internet show Palestinians throwing stones and fireworks and police firing tear gas and stun grenades into the vast adventure surrounding the mosque. Others showed worshipers trapped inside the mosque.
Later in the morning, Israeli police entered the mosque itself. Israeli security forces rarely enter the building, and when they do, it is considered by the Palestinians to be a major escalation.
Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday. (Mahmoud Illean / The Associated Press)
The Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency Service said it had treated 152 people, many of whom were injured by rubber bullets or stun grenades or by bats. The legacy said one of the guards at the scene was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.
Israeli police said three police officers were injured by “huge stones” and two were evacuated from the scene for treatment.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said dozens of masked men carrying Palestinian and Hamas flags marched on the compound before dawn on Friday, collecting stones and other objects in anticipation of unrest.
“Police were forced to enter the area to disperse the crowd and remove stones and rocks in order to prevent further violence,” he said on Twitter.
The Palestinians see any major police deployment in Al-Aqsa as a major challenge.
High intensity after a series of attacks
Israeli National Security Minister Omer Barlev, who oversees the police force, said Israel was “not interested” in violence at the shrine, but that police had to deal with “violent elements” who attacked them with stones and metal. rods. He said Israel was committed to freedom of worship for both Jews and Muslims.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, speaking at a celebratory gathering with security officials, said authorities were “working to calm things down at the Temple Mount and throughout Israel. At the same time, we are prepared for any scenario.”
The mosque is the third holiest place in Islam. It is built on top of a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem which is the holiest place for the Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It has been a major hotbed of violence between Israelis and Palestinians for decades and has been the focus of the 2000-2005 Palestinian intifada or uprising.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks following a series of attacks by Palestinians that have killed 14 people inside Israel. Israel has carried out a wave of arrests and military operations in the occupied West Bank, sparking clashes with Palestinians.
Tor Wennesland, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process that stalled more than a decade ago, called on the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to “immediately de-escalate the situation and prevent further provocations by radicals.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a 17-year-old died early Friday morning from injuries sustained during clashes with Israeli forces in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, the previous day.
Doctors remove a wounded Palestinian during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem on Friday. (Ariel Schalit / The Associated Press)
At least 25 Palestinians have been killed in the recent wave of violence, according to the Associated Press, many of whom have been attacked or involved in clashes, as well as an unarmed woman and a lawyer who appears to have been killed by mistake.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians were expected to gather in al-Aqsa for Friday prayers.
Weeks of protests and clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan last year sparked an 11-day war with the Islamic State militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Israel had lifted the restrictions and taken other measures to try to defuse tensions before Ramadan, but attacks and military strikes sparked another wave of unrest.
Hamas has condemned “violent attacks” on al-Aqsa militants by Israeli forces, saying Israel would have “all the consequences”. He called on all Palestinians to “stand by our people in Jerusalem.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency Service said it had treated 152 people, many of whom were injured by rubber bullets or stun grenades or by bats. (Mahmoud Illean / The Associated Press)
Earlier this week, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza called on Palestinians to camp at the Al-Aqsa Mosque over the weekend. The Palestinians have long feared that Israel was planning to occupy the site or separate it.
Israeli authorities say they have pledged to maintain the status quo, but in recent years nationalist and religious Jews have visited the site in large numbers accompanied by police.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, home to Al-Aqsa and other important holy sites, in the 1967 war and annexed it in an internationally unrecognized movement. The Palestinians want the eastern part of the city to be the capital of a future independent state, including the West Bank and Gaza, which was also occupied by Israel during the war almost 55 years ago.
