Hundreds of arrests as clashes at flashpoint Jerusalem mosque prompt fears of wider fighting
Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday, firing stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled firecrackers at them in a burst of violence during a sensitive holiday season. Gaza militants responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting an Israeli airstrike.
A spokesperson for Israeli police said they arrested more than 350 people who had “violently barricaded” themselves inside, Agence France-Presse reports.
The fighting, coming as Muslims mark the holiday month of Ramadan and Jews prepare to begin the Passover festival on Wednesday evening, drew Palestinian condemnations and raised fears of a wider conflagration. Similar clashes two years ago erupted into an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military said one soldier was shot in a separate incident in the occupied West Bank.
The mosque sits on a sensitive hilltop compound holy to both Jews and Muslims. Al-Aqsa is the third-holiest site in Islam and is typically packed with worshippers during Ramadan. The spot, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is also the holiest site in Judaism, who revere it as the location of the biblical Jewish temples. The conflicting claims fuel constant tensions that have spilled over to violence numerous times in the past.
Since Ramadan began March 22, scores of Muslim worshippers have been trying to stay overnight in the mosque, a practice that is typically permitted only during the last 10 days of the monthlong holiday. Israeli police have entered nightly to evict the worshippers, stirring tensions with young Palestinians who demand to pray at the holy site until dawn.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said dozens of worshippers who were spending the night praying were injured in the police raid.
Israeli police said they moved in after “several law-breaking youths and masked agitators” brought fireworks, sticks and stones and barricaded themselves in the mosque. Police said the youths chanted violent slogans and locked the front doors.
“After many and prolonged attempts to get them out by talking to no avail, police forces were forced to enter the compound in order to get them out,” police said.
Source: cbsnews
