JERUSALEM: The Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City in the wee hours of Wednesday and arrested more than 350 Palestinians, as reported by CNN. The incident occurred a few days after a Palestinian man was assassinated outside the holy site.
Israeli forces could be seen using torches and attempting to hit screaming people with batons inside the mosque, according to violent scenes shared on social media. Eyewitnesses told CNN that police used stun grenades, rubber bullets and broke windows and doors.
In videos shared by Israeli police, cops can be seen entering the mosque with their riots shields up as fireworks are launched against them. The Israeli police, in a statement, said, its forces entered the mosque “after several law-breaking youth and masked agitators brought into the mosque fireworks, sticks and stones”. According to the statement, “When the police entered, stones were thrown at them, and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators”.
At least 12 people were injured during clashes in and around the mosque, and at least three of the injured, who sustained injuries from rubber bullets, were shifted to hospital, said The Palestinian Red Crescent. At one point, its ambulances were targeted by police and were prevented from reaching the injured, The Red Crescent added.
The police statement said, “These instigators fortified it hours after the Taraweeh prayer in order to disrupt public order and desecrate the mosque.” The police also stated, “In addition, they started chanting for incitement and violence inside the mosque and locked its doors from the inside with obstacles and fortifications at the entrances”.
More than 350 people were arrested and removed from the mosque, police said, adding that an Israeli police officer was also wounded in the leg by stones, reported CNN. Social media users posted pictures of scores of detained individuals being led into vehicles while having their wrists tied and their legs and arms bound behind their backs on the mosque floor.
The Arab and Muslim world has condemned the incident. The Israeli police’s actions were denounced by Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in “the strongest terms,” and Israel was urged to remove its forces from the mosque right away, reported CNN. A statement, citing the ministry’s official spokesperson, Sinan Al-Majali said, “The storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacking it and the worshipers is a flagrant violation”.
Since 1924, Jordan’s Hashemite monarchy has been the custodian of the holy places in Jerusalem and considers itself to be the guarantor of the Christians and Muslims in the city’s the right to practise their respective religions.
The “storming” of the mosque by police was also denounced by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry, which said it had injured “numerous worshippers and devotees” and was “in violation of all international laws and customs.”
More Muslim worshippers remained inside the mosque after calls came to thwart those attempts from happening. The clash broke out days after an Israeli policeman shot and killed a Palestinian man at the mosque’s entrance. The circumstances under which Muhammad Al-Osaibi (26) was killed have been challenged by Palestinian and Israeli sources.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the actions of the Israeli police saying, “What is happening in Jerusalem is a major crime against worshippers.” Shtayeh added, “Israel does not want to learn from history, that Al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and for all Arabs and Muslims, and that storming it sparked a revolution against the occupation”.
The Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism, as well as one of Islam’s most venerated locations, are both located within the mosque compound, which is frequently a flashpoint in tense situations, CNN reported. (ANI)