Israeli police in full riot gear stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Outdated Metropolis on Friday after Palestinian youths hurled stones at a gate the place they had been stationed.
The renewed violence on the website, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, got here regardless of Israel briefly halting Jewish visits, that are seen by the Palestinians as a provocation. Medics mentioned greater than two dozen Palestinians had been wounded earlier than the clashes subsided hours later.
Al-Aqsa is the third holiest website in Islam. The sprawling esplanade on which it's constructed is the holiest website for Jews, who check with it because the Temple Mount as a result of it was the placement of two Jewish temples in antiquity. It lies on the coronary heart of the Israeli-Palestinian battle and clashes there have typically ignited violence elsewhere.
A longstanding prohibition on Jews praying on the website has eroded lately, fueling fears amongst Palestinians that Israel plans to take over the positioning or partition it. Palestinians and neighboring Jordan, the custodian of the positioning, accuse Israel of violating longstanding preparations by permitting more and more giant numbers of Jews to go to the positioning beneath police escort.
Israel says it stays dedicated to the established order and blames the violence on incitement by Hamas. It says its safety forces are performing to take away rock-throwers in an effort to guarantee freedom of worship for Jews and Muslims.
Visits by Jewish teams had been halted starting Friday for the final 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as they've been previously.
Palestinians and Israeli police have often clashed on the website over the past week at a time of heightened tensions following a string of lethal assaults inside Israel and arrest raids within the occupied West Financial institution. Three rockets have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, which is managed by the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel has responded with air strikes.
The string of occasions has raised fears of a repeat of final 12 months, when protests and violence in Jerusalem ultimately boiled over, serving to to ignite an 11-day battle between Israel and Hamas, and communal violence in Israel's combined cities.
Palestinian youths hurled stones towards police at a gate main into the compound, in accordance with two Palestinian witnesses who spoke on situation of anonymity out of safety issues. The police, in full riot gear, then entered the compound, firing rubber bullets and stun grenades.
Israeli police mentioned the Palestinians, some carrying Hamas flags, had begun stockpiling stones and erecting crude fortifications earlier than daybreak. The police mentioned that after the rock-throwing started, they waited till after early morning prayers had completed earlier than coming into the compound.
Video footage confirmed the police firing at a gaggle of journalists holding cameras and loudly figuring out themselves as members of the press. A minimum of three Palestinian reporters had been wounded by rubber bullets fired by police.
Some older Palestinians urged the youths to cease throwing rocks however had been ignored, as dozens of younger masked males hurled stones and fireworks on the police. A tree caught hearth close to the gate the place the clashes started. Police mentioned it was ignited by fireworks thrown by the Palestinians.
The violence subsided later within the morning after one other group of dozens of Palestinians mentioned they wished to wash the world forward of the primary weekly prayers noon, that are often attended by tens of 1000's of Muslim worshippers. The police withdrew to the gate and the stone-throwing stopped.
The Palestinian Crimson Crescent medical service mentioned a minimum of 31 Palestinians had been wounded, together with 14 who had been taken to hospitals. A policewoman was hit within the face by a rock and brought for medical remedy, the police mentioned.
This 12 months, Ramadan coincided with the week-long Jewish Passover and main Christian holidays, with tens of 1000's of individuals from all three faiths flocking to the Outdated Metropolis after the lifting of most coronavirus restrictions.
The Outdated Metropolis is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured together with the West Financial institution and Gaza within the 1967 Mideast battle. Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a transfer not acknowledged internationally and considers the complete metropolis its capital. The Palestinians search an impartial state in all three territories and look at east Jerusalem as their capital.