Israeli police have attacked dozens of worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound injuring seven people, according to witnesses.
The raid took place before dawn on Wednesday with Israeli police claiming they had entered to dislodge “agitators”, a move denounced as an “unprecedented crime” by the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Watch the video of Israeli soldier storming the Al Aqsa Mosque
Clashes
The fresh violence comes nearly halfway through Ramadan and as Jews prepare to celebrate Passover from Wednesday evening.
Israeli police said they were forced to enter the mosque after “several law-breaking youths and masked agitators” barricaded themselves inside.
“These instigators fortified it, hours after the (last evening) Taraweeh prayer in order to disrupt public order and desecrate the mosque,” the police said in a statement.
Similar clashes two years ago erupted into an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
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Injuries
According to Al Jazeera, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported injuries but did not elaborate on how many people were hurt, saying that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching Al-Aqsa.
“I was sitting on a chair reciting (Qur’an),” an elderly woman told the Reuters news agency while sitting outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. “They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest,” she said as she began to cry.
According to The Palestine Information Network (Pin) in South Africa, after entering Masjid al-Aqsa Israeli forces reportedly destroyed windows of the mosque throwing gas bombs and sound grenades at worshippers.
“A fire broke out at the Qibli Musallah, and structural damage was incurred to parts of the Masjid,” it said.
Air strikes
Meanwhile, Israeli planes struck Gaza early on Wednesday, following rocket fire from the enclave toward Israel after Israeli police raid at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound overnight.
Hamas Radio said the Israeli strikes hit two training camps, one in Gaza City and another in a refugee camp.
Condemnation
Jordan and Egypt, both involved in recent US-backed efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, issued separate statements condemning the incident.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported the ministry “expressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation and rejection of the blatant storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound.
“These practices undermine peace efforts,” the ministry said, reaffirming its firm position in supporting all efforts aimed at ending the occupation and reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause.”
Confrontations
Confrontations at Al-Aqsa, the third-holiest shrine in Islam and the most sacred site in Judaism in which it is referred to as the Temple Mount – have sparked deadly cross-border wars between Israel and Hamas rulers in the past – the last being in 2021.
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