Admin
CNN
—
Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one in all Islam’s holiest websites, throughout Ramadan prayers early Wednesday, arresting a whole bunch of Palestinians and sparking retaliatory rocket hearth from militants in Gaza.
Footage shared on social media confirmed Israeli officers placing screaming folks with batons contained in the darkened constructing. Eyewitnesses instructed CNN that police had smashed doorways and home windows to enter the mosque and deployed stun grenades and rubber bullets as soon as inside. Video shared by Israeli police present forces holding riot shields up as fireworks have been launched again at them, ricocheting off the partitions.
Israeli police stated in a press release that its forces entered al-Aqsa after “a whole bunch of rioters and mosque desecrators (had) barricaded themselves” inside.
“When the police entered, stones have been thrown at them, and fireworks have been fired from contained in the mosque by a big group of agitators,” based on the assertion.
The Palestinian Red Crescent in Jerusalem stated at the very least 12 folks have been injured throughout clashes in and across the mosque, and at the very least three of the injured have been transferred to hospital, some with accidents from rubber bullets.
The Red Crescent added that at one level its ambulances have been focused by police and have been prevented from reaching the injured.
The incident drew condemnation from throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli police actions “within the strongest phrases,” and known as on Israel to right away take away its forces from the mosque. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry additionally condemned the “storming” of the mosque by police, saying it had brought on “quite a few accidents amongst worshipers and devotees” and was “in violation of all worldwide legal guidelines and customs.”
Police stated they arrested and eliminated greater than 350 folks within the mosque, and that one Israeli police officer was wounded within the leg by stones.
Images shared on social media confirmed dozens of detained folks mendacity facedown on the ground of the mosque with their legs and arms sure behind their backs, and others with their fingers tied being led right into a automobile.
Al-Aqsa has seen a whole bunch of hundreds of worshipers supply prayers in the course of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this yr. Jews are set to have fun Passover on Wednesday night.
Over the final two weeks, there have been calls by Jewish extremist teams to slaughter goats on the mosque compound as a part of an historical Passover vacation ritual that’s not practiced by most Jews. A larger variety of Muslim worshipers stayed within the mosque after calls got here to forestall these makes an attempt.
Last week, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police on the entrance of the compound. Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Osaibi.
The mosque compound, incessantly a flashpoint in tensions, is house to one in all Islam’s most revered websites but in addition the holiest web site in Judaism, often called the Temple Mount.
The compound reopened for prayers shortly after.
In a press release Wednesday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the actions of the Israeli police, saying: “What is occurring in Jerusalem is a significant crime in opposition to worshipers.”
“Israel doesn’t wish to study from historical past, that al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and for all Arabs and Muslims, and that storming it sparked a revolution in opposition to the occupation,” Shtayyeh added.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated Wednesday that 9 rockets have been fired from Gaza Strip towards Israel after the incident in Jerusalem.
“Following the earlier report relating to the sirens which sounded in Sderot, 5 rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” stated the IDF. “Four of them have been intercepted by the aerial protection array.”
The IDF additionally stated 4 further rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel however landed in open house.
“Following the extra sirens that sounded within the environment of the Gaza Strip, 4 rockets have been launched from the Gaza Strip that landed in open areas. No interceptors have been launched based on protocol,” the IDF added.
Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, stated in a press release that “the present Israeli occupation’s crimes on the al-Aqsa mosque are unprecedented violations that won’t move.”
Later on Wednesday, the Israeli army stated its fighter jets had struck weapons manufacturing and storage websites within the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas.
“This strike was carried out in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory earlier,” it stated in a press release.
Last year was the deadliest for each Palestinians within the occupied West Bank and for Israelis in practically twenty years, CNN evaluation of official statistics on either side confirmed.
And this yr has seen a violent starting, too. At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, based on Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics. In addition to suspected militants being focused by Israeli forces, the dead embody Palestinians killing, wounding or making an attempt to kill Israeli civilians, folks clashing with Israeli safety and bystanders, CNN information present.
In the identical interval, at the very least 15 Israelis have been killed in assaults by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, CNN information present – 14 civilians and a police officer who was hit by pleasant hearth after being stabbed by a Palestinian teenager whereas inspecting bus passengers.
