Israeli authorities said they had entered the compound on Sunday to facilitate regular Jewish visits to the shrine and that Palestinians had stored stones and set up barricades in the compound. The police skimmed the Palestinians from the extensive adventure outside the mosque, while dozens remained in. Palestinian doctors say at least 17 people have been injured. Three people were taken to hospital after being beaten or hit by rubber bullets, according to the Palestinian Red Cross. The group said it could not access the compound but was able to help the wounded near Bab al-Asbat. Nine people were arrested, police said, after Palestinians smashed the windows of two buses carrying Jewish visitors to the scene, slightly injuring several of them. (Al Jazeera) Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim, which reports from occupied East Jerusalem, said the raid took place three hours ago during which non-Muslims were allowed to visit the complex, the third holiest in Islam and the holiest for the Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. Tensions were high when the far-right Jewish group Return to Temple Mount offered a cash prize to anyone entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque and sacrificing a goat – a Jewish religious ritual banned inside the mosque that would be a further challenge. “This did not happen, but it went viral on social media,” Ghoneim said, adding that it helped increase tensions. The Palestinian Authority on Sunday blamed Israel for the effects of the ongoing tensions in al-Aqsa. “We call on the US government to break its silence and end this aggression that will ignite the entire region,” said Nabil Abu Rudeine, a spokesman for the state-run Wafa news agency. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli escalation of the fire. A ministry statement said the Israeli escalation was defying an Arab and Islamic reaction and was “a continuation of the [Israeli] plans to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque “. Pope Francis on Sunday called for free access to the holy sites in Jerusalem as he delivered his annual Easter talk, which coincided this year with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover. “May the Israelis, the Palestinians and all those who live in the Holy City, together with the pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, dwell in the brotherhood and enjoy free access to the Holy Land with mutual respect for the rights of everyone,” he said. . More than 300 Palestinians were arrested on Friday in Al-Aqsa, what human rights activists say was the largest mass arrest in an hour and at a location in more than 20 years. At least 158 Palestinians were injured in the ensuing violence. Videos released on Friday showed police firing tear gas and tear gas canisters at Palestinians, throwing stones at Palestinians. Others showed worshipers trapped inside the mosque amidst clouds of tears. But Palestinian cameraman Rami al-Khatib, who witnessed the raid, said: “They [Israeli forces] brutally emptied the band. They attacked the mosque staff, normal people, old people, young people. “There were many wounded, they threw rubber bullets into the Al Aqsa Mosque. “They beat everyone, even the paramedics, they beat them,” said al-Khatib, who suffered a broken arm. Two Palestinians were arrested and two were injured [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu] Israeli police said they entered the compound on Friday to disperse a “violent” crowd that remained at the end of the morning prayer. Palestinians have long feared that Israel plans to seize or dismantle the Al-Aqsa mosque complex. 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, which Palestinians see as a challenge. Palestinians and Israelis have witnessed an increase in violence in the past month, with Israeli forces intensifying raids, shootings and arrests in the occupied West Bank and Palestinian assailants targeting people in Israeli cities. Four Palestinian attacks on four Israeli cities have taken place since March 22, killing 14 people, while Israel has stepped up its attacks on Palestinian towns and villages, leading to violence and arrests. Sixteen Palestinians have been killed in the same period. Palestinians say the latest outbreak of violence stems from frustration with Israeli policies toward them, continued occupation of Palestinian territory and weak Palestinian leadership. Hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip took to the streets to protest Israeli forces storming the Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday in support of the people living in the occupied West Bank. Last year, raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli security forces during the holy month of Ramadan further escalated tensions, and four days later, an 11-day Israeli offensive was launched in Gaza, ostensibly in response to rockets fired by Hamas. Israel.
