Ilia Yefimovich
During the clashes on the Temple Mount (Al-Haram al-Sharif / The Noble Sanctuary), according to Israeli media reports, the police used rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades against Palestinians throwing stones. According to the newspaper “Haaretz”, the situation had escalated after tens of thousands of Muslims flocked to the Al-Aqsa mosque for the Saturday prayer at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The so-called Middle East Quartet, made up of the USA, Russia, the EU and the United Nations, was “deeply concerned” about the now “daily clashes and acts of violence”.
According to the Palestinian rescue service Red Crescent, 64 Palestinians – including several children – were injured by police violence, “Haaretz” said. Similar clashes occurred in East Jerusalem, according to which barricades and guards of the emergency services were set on fire.
The night before, the situation around the old town and the Sheikh Jarrah district had escalated, and the situation was particularly explosive here on the Temple Mount. There was then talk of more than 200 injured, the police spoke of almost 20 security guards who had been injured in action.
The Temple Mount with the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque is both the third holiest site in Islam and of the greatest importance in Judaism, because there used to be two Jewish temples, the last of which was destroyed by the Romans in 70. The Western Wall is a remnant of that ruined temple and the holiest place for the Jews.
The situation in the West Bank and the eastern part of Jerusalem has been tense since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan. Many Palestinians are angry because Israeli police cordoned off areas of the old city to prevent gatherings. In addition, some Palestinian families are threatened with evictions by the Israeli authorities, which further exacerbates tensions. On Saturday evening, another rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip across the border into Israel, whereupon the Israeli air force claimed to have attacked a military post of the Islamist Hamas, which rules the isolated coastal area.
“We are alarmed by the provocative statements of some political groups, the attacks with rockets and fire balloons from the Gaza Strip on Israel as well as the attacks on Palestinian farmland in the West Bank,” said a joint message from the ambassadors of the Middle East Quartet. The evictions are also “very worrying”. The Israeli side should exercise particular restraint during Ramadan and “avoid all steps that could escalate the situation further”.
During the Six Day War in 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem and has been promoting settlement projects there ever since. The Palestinians, on the other hand, are demanding the territories for their own state – with East Jerusalem as the capital. Like many other international actors, the EU believes that the Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and represent an obstacle to peace.