Israeli police raided Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site before dawn on Wednesday after Palestinians set up barricades inside a mosque there, triggering a flash exchange of rockets from Gaza. and retaliatory Israeli air strikes on the territory.
Violence at the Aqsa Mosque complex in the Old City, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, left at least 12 Palestinians and two Israeli officers injured and hundreds of Palestinians arrested. Officials and diplomats have warned in recent days that the overlap of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins Wednesday night, could lead to clashes. when many devotees flock to this place.
Israeli attacks on the mosque compound in May 2021 resulted in 11 day war between Israel and HamasPalestinian Muslim faction dominates the Gaza Strip. But Wednesday’s tensions did not seem to immediately point towards such an all-out confrontation; Missile fire and air strikes were carried out in several exchanges and leaders of both sides telegraphed that they were not seeking military escalation.
By mid-morning on Wednesday, unrest in the holy city, which had spread to other parts of the Old City and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had subsided.
The latest wave of violence began after Israeli police stormed one of the two main prayer rooms of a mosque at the holy site. Police said Palestinians locked the door of the prayer room, the Qibli Mosque, from the inside and barricaded the entrances, hours after the nightly prayer for the fasting month of Ramadan, which began two weeks ago.
An overnight stay at a mosque is prohibited by Israeli police except for special occasions such as the end of Ramadan.
Israel-Palestinian violence on the rise
A recent spate of violence in Israel and the West Bank has raised concerns that tensions could escalate further.
In recent weeks, the police have not strictly followed that ban. But a police spokesman said that officers decided to enforce it on Wednesday morning because they feared that, if allowed to stay inside the mosque, Palestinians would confront the Jewish crowd, who are expected to visit the site a few hours later.
On the eve of Passover, many Jews often visit the site as a form of pilgrimage. For Palestinians, the presence of Jews is seen as provocative, in part because many are hard-line activists who hope to build a new temple on the site. This.
Police said they raided the mosque after lengthy efforts to convince worshipers to leave. They said Palestinians also threw stones at officers, and Palestinian news agencies said police fired tear gas and sponge-tipped bullets and beat people inside the mosque.
Police said they arrested and removed more than 350 Palestinians from the compound; A group that defends the rights of Palestinian prisoners says more than 400 people have been arrested.
About two hours after the raid, armed groups in Gaza fired at least nine rockets toward Israel, five of which were intercepted by the country’s air defenses. According to the Israeli military, the others landed in open ground.
Hours later, Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes on military sites in Gaza, according to Palestinian media and the Israeli military.
By late morning, Jewish tourists and tourists were walking around the holy site under police protection and there were no air strikes or rockets for several hours.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right minister for national security, has called on Israel to respond more strongly to the missile firing. But the Israeli military released a statement saying that while it was ready for any scenario, it was “not interested in escalation”.
Hamas issued a statement condemning the Israeli attack and calling on Palestinians to protest in response, but it did not call for military confrontation.
The mosque complex is a frequent site of violence as it is central to the nationalist narratives of both Israel and Palestine.
It was the site of two ancient Jewish temples, was the center of ancient Jewish practice, and it is considered the holiest site in Judaism. Centuries after the destruction of the temples, the Muslims built a mosque complex there. They believe it is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, making it the third holy place in Islam.
Israel captured the site from Jordan during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and considers it an integral part of its capital. But most of the world considers it occupied territory under international law.
For decades, Israel prevented Jews from praying there to avoid exacerbating tensions. However, in recent years, the Israeli police have allowed Jews quietly worship at the edge of the compound. That angered many Palestinians and Muslim-majority countries in the region, and added to Palestinian concerns about the growing Jewish influence in the site.
In recent days, those fears have been exacerbated by efforts by hardline Jewish activists to sacrifice a goat at the compound to mark the start of the Passover holiday. Jewish week long.
Israeli police have repeatedly said they will not allow such a sacrifice, but the calls exacerbate Palestinian concerns about the Jewish takeover of the compound, especially as many Jews are expected to mark Passover by praying there.
In response, Palestinians have urged worshipers to come to the mosque on the premises and stay overnight to pray, a tradition practiced especially during the month of Ramadan.
On Saturday, the Israeli police shoot dead a Palestinian citizen of Israel at one of the entrances of the mosque complex. Police said the man pulled a gun and shot a police officer after being stopped for questioning. But Palestinian news agencies said the man was killed in an altercation after intervening to stop the attack on a Palestinian woman.
Hiba Yazbek Report donations from Jerusalem and Gabby Sobelman from Rehovot, Israel
