Israeli police attack worshippers

Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque in force before dawn yesterday and clashed with worshippers, drawing condemnation from Arab countries and a furious reaction in the occupied West Bank and crossborder strikes in Gaza.

The incident, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, came amid fears that tensions built up during a year of escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence could be unleashed at the Al-Aqsa mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.

Palestinian militants fired at least nine rockets from Gaza into Israel overnight, prompting air strikes from Israel which hit what it said were weapon production sites for the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the blockaded coastal enclave.

Hamas did not claim responsibility for the rocket attacks but said these were in response to the Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.

As ground-shaking explosions from the airstrikes rocked Gaza, witnesses said Israeli tanks also shelled Hamas positions. “We are not interested in an escalation, but we are ready for any scenario,” IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

As day broke, with international efforts underway to de-escalate the situation, tensions appeared to have calmed in Al-Aqsa, where large crowds of worshippers spent the night as is common during Ramadan.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians had sustained wounds during the raid, including from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings, in clashes with police. It added that Israeli forces had prevented its medics from reaching the area.

Israeli police said in a statement that security units were forced to enter the compound after what it called masked agitators locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.

It said more than 350 people who had barricaded themselves inside were arrested and removed.

Thousands of worshippers spent the night in the mosque compound, amid fears of possible clashes with Jewish visitors to the site, which they revere as the Temple Mount, the site of Judaism’s two ancient Temples.

Under the longstanding “status quo” arrangement governing the area, which Israel says it maintains, non-Muslims can visit but only Muslims are allowed to worship in the mosque compound. Jewish visitors have increasingly prayed more or less openly at the site in defiance of the rules.

The Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed Islamic organisation that manages the complex, considered the third holiest site in the Muslim world, described the police actions as a “flagrant assault on the identity and the function of the mosque as a place of worship for Muslims alone”.

The incident drew a sharp reaction from Arab countries. Jordan and Egypt, both involved in recent US-backed efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, issued separate statements strongly condemning the incident, while Saudi Arabia, with whom Israel hopes to normalise ties, said Israel’s “storming” of Al-Aqsa undermined peace efforts.

The Palestinian Authority leadership said Israel’s crossing of “red lines” at the holy sites risked an “explosion”.