By Sardar Khan Niazi
Despite a U.S. appeal to ease tensions and the Israeli PM’s statement that his government is committed to maintaining the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli police clashed with Palestinians.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community. For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Hours after the arrest and removal of more than 350 people in a police raid at the compound at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Israeli police clashed with Palestinians for a second time on Wednesday. Al-Aqsa Mosque has been a frequent flashpoint, particularly during Ramadan, and clashes there in May 2021 set off the latest Gaza war that raged for 11 days.
Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn and clashed with worshippers, drawing condemnation from Arab countries and a furious reaction in the occupied West Bank and cross-border strikes in Gaza.
Allegedly, 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.
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.
Surrounding the Al-Qibli Prayer Hall, Israeli police went up to the roof of the mosque, smashed some of the windows, and initially intervened with sound bombs against the worshippers inside. Some of the people in the mosque tried to resist the police. Israeli police armed with batons, tear gas grenades, and smoke bombs, burst into the mosque by force and beat the women and men worshipping there.
Violence in occupied Palestine has intensified since the new government of veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took power in December, a coalition with the extreme right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
In the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City tens of thousands pray during Ramadan. Under a longstanding status quo arrangement governing the compound, non-Muslims can visit but only Muslims may worship. Some Jewish visitors have increasingly prayed there despite that arrangement.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was shocked and appalled by images he saw of Israeli security forces beating people at the mosque. The UAE and China asked the 15-member United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that Israel’s raid into Al-Aqsa mosque is an assault on worshippers, and a slap to recent U.S. efforts, which tried to create calm and stability during the month of Ramadan.
The Arab League emergency meeting condemned the raid and said it endangered regional stability. Jordan and Egypt, both involved in U.S.-backed efforts to de-escalate Israel-Palestinian tensions, condemned the incident, as did Turkey. Saudi Arabia, with which Israel hopes to normalize ties, said the storming of Al-Aqsa by Israel undermined peace efforts.
Jordan, which administers the mosque, condemned its storming and called on Israeli forces to leave the compound immediately. Saudi Arabia expressed its categorical rejection of actions that contradict international principles and norms in respect of religious sanctities.
Egypt, which has frequently mediated in the conflict, said it holds Israel, the occupying power, responsible for this dangerous escalation, which could undermine the truce efforts of Egypt with its regional and international partners.
Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh has rightly said the Israeli police action inside Al-Aqsa, needs the world’s attention.
