Women waving Palestinian flags and shouting slogans during a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem in Gaza City on Friday. Palestinians clashed with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Friday as thousands gathered to pray during the holy month of Ramadan. Doctors say more than 150 Palestinians have been injured in the worst violence in the area in nearly a year. 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 Waqf, 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. Less than a mile away, thousands of Christians paraded in a procession repeating Jesus’ traditional journey to the cross in honor of Good Friday. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was open to visitors, who are returning en masse to the Holy Land for the first time since the pandemic. The violence was limited to the mosque complex. Israeli authorities said they had negotiated with Muslim leaders before the riots broke out to try to secure 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. The Palestinians see any major deployment of police in Al-Aqsa as a challenge. Palestinians hurled stones and fireworks as police fired tear gas and stun grenades into the vast adventure surrounding the mosque. Dozens of Palestinians were trapped inside the mosque as they fought Israeli security forces. Israeli police later entered the mosque and arrested people inside. Police rarely enter the building, which is considered by Palestinians to be an escalation. The Palestinian Red Crescent Emergency Service said it had treated 152 people, many of whom had been injured by rubber bullets or stun grenades. The video shows police hitting a Waqf photographer with batons before hitting him on the ground and kicking him. The Waqf said the photographer, Rami Khatib, suffered a broken arm. There were no immediate comments from police. Israeli police said three police officers were injured by “huge stones” and two were evacuated from the scene for treatment. Neighboring Jordan, which has custody of the shrine, and the Palestinian Authority issued a joint statement accusing Israel of “a dangerous and reprehensible escalation that threatens to erupt.” Egypt also condemned the “Israeli invasion”. Israeli Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, who oversees the police force, said Israel was “not interested” in violence at the shrine, but that police were forced 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 said authorities were “working to calm things down at 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 the 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 because it was the site of the Jewish temples in antiquity. 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. Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move that is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians want the eastern part of the city to be the capital of a future state, including the West Bank and Gaza, which was also occupied by Israel during the war almost 55 years ago. Tensions have risen in recent weeks following a series of attacks by Palestinians that have killed 14 people inside Israel. Israeli troops have carried out a wave of arrests and military operations in the occupied West Bank, sparking clashes with Palestinians. At least 25 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Associated Press. Many had been attacked or involved in the clashes, but an unarmed woman and a lawyer who appeared to be passing by were also among the dead. Weeks of demonstrations and clashes in and around al-Aqsa during Ramadan last year helped spark a fourth war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. This year, Israel has lifted restrictions and taken other measures to try to defuse tensions, but attacks and military strikes are fueling another cycle of unrest. Hamas condemned the “violent attacks” on worshipers in Al Aqsa, saying that Israel would have “all the consequences”. 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 large groups of nationalist and religious Jews have regularly visited the site with police escorts. A radical Jewish group recently invited people to bring animals to the site to sacrifice them for Easter, offering a monetary reward for those who succeeded or even tried. Israeli police are working to prevent such activities, but the call has been widely circulated by Palestinians on social media, along with calls on Muslims to prevent any sacrifices. Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, issued a statement calling on Muslim leaders to take action to stop the violence. He also noted that “bringing a sacrifice to the Temple Mount today is contrary to the decision of the Chief Rabbi of Israel.”
