Members of Israeli security forces guard the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound following clashes that erupted during Islam's holy fasting month of Ramadan in Jerusalem. Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
Israeli police raided Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn on Wednesday to try to clear groups it said were barricaded inside, leading to clashes with worshippers and triggering an exchange of crossborder fire with Gaza.
The incident came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, stoking fears of further violence at the mosque compound, a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Palestinian militants fired at least nine rockets from Gaza into Israel, 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 they were a response to the raid on Al-Aqsa, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.
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," Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
The Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem's Old City, is Islam's third holiest site and tens of thousands come to pray there during Ramadan. It is also Judaism's most sacred site, revered as Temple Mount, a vestige of the two biblical Jewish temples.
Israeli security forces are seen during the expulsion of worshipers from Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City. Photo: AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians had sustained injuries during the raid, including from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings, in clashes with police. It said Israeli forces had prevented its medics from reaching the area.
"In the yard to the eastern part of the compound, the police fired tear gas and stun grenades," said Fahmi Abbas, a worshipper who was at the mosque when the raid occurred. "Then they stormed in and started beating everyone."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation had been caused by "extremists" who barricaded themselves inside the mosque with weapons, stones and fireworks.
"Israel is committed to maintaining freedom of worship, free access to all religions and the status quo on the Temple Mount and will not allow violent extremists to change that," he said in a statement.
Stun grenades
Videos circulating on social media, which Reuters could not independently verify, showed fireworks going off and police beating people inside one of the mosque buildings. Police video showed police entering the building while firecrackers exploded in the darkness.
"I was sitting on a chair reciting [the Qur'an]," an elderly woman told Reuters outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. "They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest," she said, crying.
Israeli police said officers entered the compound after what it called masked agitators locked themselves inside the mosque and after attempts to remove them by dialogue failed.
More than 350 people inside were arrested and removed from the compound, police said.
"Throughout the presence of police forces in the compound, stones were thrown and multiple firecrackers were set off inside the mosque by many law-breaking individuals and rioters," the police statement said, adding that two officers were wounded.
Thousands of worshippers had been spending the night in the mosque compound amid fears of possible clashes with Jewish visitors to the site for Passover.
Under a longstanding "status quo" arrangement governing the compound, non-Muslims can visit but only Muslims are allowed to worship. Some Jewish visitors have increasingly prayed there despite that arrangement.
The Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed Islamic organisation that manages the complex, 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".
Condemnation
"Leaders on all sides must act responsibly and refrain from steps that could escalate tensions," said the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.
The United States said it was alarmed by the violence.
The Arab League condemned Israel's "extremist approach" and said it would hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China asked the 15-member United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation behind closed-doors on Thursday, said diplomats.
The UAE's foreign ministry also said "worshippers should not barricade themselves inside the mosque and places of worship with weapons and explosives".
Jordan and Egypt, both involved in recent US-backed efforts to de-escalate Israel-Palestinian tensions, issued separate statements condemning the incident. Saudi Arabia, with which Israel hopes to normalise ties, said Israel's "storming" of Al-Aqsa undermined peace efforts.
"Israel's aggression against the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound is an egregious assault on the basic right of Palestinians to worship freely in their holy site," the Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement.
With Israel still reeling from weeks of protests over Netanyahu's plans to rein in the powers of the Supreme Court, the incident added to an already fevered political atmosphere.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has responsibility for the police but not the armed forces, called for a harsh response from Israel.
"Hamas rockets require more than blasting dunes and empty sites. It's time to rip heads off in Gaza," he said in a tweet.
In the West Bank town of Beit Ummar, protesters burned tyres and threw rocks and explosive devices at Israeli soldiers, one of whom was shot and wounded. Separately, a gunman opened fire on an army checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem without causing any casualties.
- Reuters