The Israeli police intervened in the mosque on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, triggering the anger of Hamas, and many international reactions.
By IM with AFP
© AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP
Published on
Subscriber-only audio playback
Ihe Israeli police said that they intervened on the night of Tuesday April 4 to Wednesday April 5 inside the al-Aqsa mosque, in East Jerusalem, to dislodge ” stirrers » who had introduced ” fireworks, sticks and stones ». The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas reacted strongly by denouncing ” an unprecedented crime »before calling the Palestinians of the West Bank ” to march en masse towards the al-Aqsa mosque to defend it ».
Some 350 Palestinian faithful, described as “rioters”, who had barricaded themselves inside this place of worship, were arrested. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said on Wednesday it had treated at least 37 wounded. A video widely circulated on social networks shows police clubbing people on the ground inside the building.
Rocket fire from the Gaza Strip
Israeli police have released video footage of more than 50 seconds showing explosions of what appear to be fireworks inside the mosque, including figures throwing rocks. Another police video footage shows officers decked out in riot gear advancing through the mosque shielding themselves from rocket fire with shields. Footage then shows a barricaded door, batteries of fireworks on a carpet on the floor and police evacuating at least five people with their hands cuffed behind their backs. An officer was injured by a stone in the leg. The police denounced the action of masked “outlaws”.
This violence comes a little before the middle of Ramadan and as the Jews prepare to celebrate Easter from Wednesday evening, while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has experienced a sharp upsurge in violence since the beginning of the year.READ ALSO“Palestinian youth want to dismantle the occupation”
After the announcement of the clashes at the al-Aqsa mosque, several rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, according to AFP journalists and witnesses. AFP journalists saw three rockets fired from afar, and witnesses said they saw others, while the Israeli army reported the triggering of warning sirens in several Israeli urban areas around the Gaza Strip.
Many international reactions
Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN, said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the “violence and beatings” of the Israeli security forces. He stressed that this “moment of the calendar, holy for Jews, Christians and Muslims, should be a moment of peace and non-violence”, according to Stéphane Dujarric, his spokesperson. The White House said it was “extremely concerned”, calling on “all parties to avoid further escalation”. For its part, Morocco, which has normalized its relations with Israel, denounced “the aggression and terror of the faithful in the middle of the holy month of Ramadan”.
“Trampling the Al-Aqsa mosque is our red line,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, during an iftar (dinner for breaking the Ramadan fast) in front of an assembly of retirees. . “Turkey cannot remain silent in the face of these attacks.”
The Arab League, which organized an extraordinary meeting, said it held Israel, the “occupying power”, responsible for the situation and warned against “provocations” offending “the feelings of believers”. Benyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, claimed that the security forces had been “forced to act to restore order” in the face of “extremists”. Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian civil affairs minister, blasted a “level of brutality requiring urgent Palestinian, Arab and international action” while Jordan, which administers the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, expressed alarm. of “continued attacks that may lead to escalation”.
The al-Aqsa Mosque is located on the Esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel. The Esplanade is built on what the Jews call the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism.