Israeli police announced on Wednesday that they had entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem to “dislodge the agitators”, who entered the space with “fireworks, sticks and stones”.
The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, denounced an “unprecedented crime” and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to “go en masse and defend the mosque.” The same call was made by the Islamic Jihad movement.
“Tonight, as the police were working to allow a large number of Muslims to celebrate the month of Ramadan and reach the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, several youths and rioters entered the mosque. [Al-Aqsa] fireworks, sticks and stones,” Israeli police said in a statement.
“These elements entrenched themselves in the place, several hours after [das últimas orações da noite] to violate public order and desecrate the mosque”, while shouting “slogans to incite hatred and violence”, adds the same note.
Israeli police forces were forced to intervene to “evict the rioters” after making arrests, the statement said, without giving the number of those detained.
The Israeli police published a video sequence, lasting more than 50 seconds, in which explosions apparently caused by fireworks inside the mosque and silhouettes appearing to prepare to throw stones can be seen.
Another sequence, also on police video, shows riot officers advancing towards the mosque, under protective fire shields.
Footage also shows a door barricaded against batteries of fireworks, and officers leading out at least five people in handcuffs.
Following the announcement of clashes in Al-Aqsa, several rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, according to journalists from the France-Presse news agency and witnesses.
The Israeli army said Gaza militants fired two volleys of rockets into southern Israel. Five rockets were intercepted in the Sderot area (south) and four fell in open areas, with no reports of casualties or damage.
In Gaza, dozens of protesters burned tires at various locations, chanting: “We have sworn to defend and protect Al-Aqsa.”
The Palestinian leadership condemned the attack, and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, warned Israel that this situation “exceeds all red lines and will lead to a huge explosion.”
Al-Aqsa stands on the Temple Mount, Islam’s third holy site in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector of the holy city occupied and annexed by Israel.
The Esplanade was built on what Jews call the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
The clashes, which have been intensifying since the beginning of this year, occurred when Ramadan, the month of ritual fasting for Muslims, is still in progress, and when Jews are preparing to celebrate Easter, starting on Wednesday night. Passover, or Pesach, one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar.
Source: TSF
