Wed 05 Apr 2023:
Israeli police attacked dozens of worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, injuring several people.
The raid occurred early Wednesday morning, with Israeli police claiming they were responding to “rioting.”
Dozens of heavily armed officers stormed the site before firing tear gas and stun grenades into the Qibli prayer hall – the building with the silver dome – where hundreds of men, women, elderly people and children were staying overnight to pray. Some eyewitnesses said rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired.
Israeli police attack worshippers in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque
Dozens of people were attacked in a dawn raid, on a contested compound, condemned by Palestinians.#AlAqsa #AlAqsaMosque #Palestine #الأقصى_في_خطر pic.twitter.com/HghmYZUI1w
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) April 5, 2023
Israeli officers then beat worshippers with batons and riot guns, wounding many, before arresting them. Their conditions were not immediately made clear.
Videos from inside the mosque showed Israeli officers repeatedly hitting people with batons while they appeared to lie on the floor. Meanwhile, the cries for help from women and children could be heard in the background.
Israeli police released a statement saying it detained dozens of “rioters” from Al-Aqsa Mosque to restore order at the site. The Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ Affairs estimates that at least 400 have been arrested.
In pictures: Israeli troops detain Palestinians after storming Al Aqsa Mosque. Witnesses say Israeli police cut electricity, beat up worshipers and forced Palestinians out of Islam's third holiest site#AlAqsa #AlAqsaMosque #Palestine #الأقصى_في_خطر pic.twitter.com/0DbVVPIrT8
— INDEPENDENT PRESS (@IpIndependent) April 5, 2023
Fears of further violence
In the occupied West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets to condemn the assault and confront Israeli troops at checkpoints and army posts. Rallies also took place in Gaza, Umm al-Fahm (a Palestinian town in Israel) and the Jordanian capital Amman.
Rockets were later fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel. At least one rocket landed inside Israel and caused damage to a food factory, according to Israeli media. No casualties were recorded.
Tension has already been high in occupied East Jerusalem and West Bank for months. There are fears of further violence as important religious festivals – the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover – converge.
Palestinian groups condemned the latest attacks on worshippers, which they described as a crime.
“We warn the occupation against crossing red lines at holy sites, which will lead to a big explosion,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Jordan, which acts as custodian of Jerusalem’s Christian and Muslim holy sites under a status quo arrangement in place since the 1967 war, condemned Israel’s “flagrant” storming of the compound. Egypt’s foreign ministry, meanwhile, called for an immediate halt to Israel’s “blatant assault” on Al-Aqsa worshippers.
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 Gaza’s Hamas rulers in the past – the last being in 2021.
Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas movement, said in a statement: “What is happening in Al-Aqsa Mosque is an unprecedented crime. Everyone must bear their responsibility, Palestinians and Muslims alike.”
He urged Palestinians in the West Bank and in Israel to march to Al-Aqsa Mosque and “protect it”.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it received multiple reports of injuries at Al-Aqsa Mosque but has not been able to estimate the number of casualties as Israeli forces continue to block medics from reaching the wounded.
Local media said dozens were wounded and the injuries have included bruises, fractures and breathlessness from inhaling tear gas. A PRCS spokesperson said they were informed the wounded have been evacuated but they don’t know by who and where they were taken.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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