Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and recurrent Ramadan tensions

Tensions in Jerusalem have flared after Israeli police attacked worshippers within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in a single day throughout the holy month of Ramadan.

The raids continued till Wednesday morning when Israeli forces had been as soon as once more seen assaulting and pushing Palestinians out of the compound and stopping them from praying – earlier than Israelis had been allowed in beneath police safety.

What occurred in Al-Aqsa compound?

Earlier than daybreak on Wednesday, Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, attacking dozens of worshippers within the Qibli Mosque.

Israeli police, who claimed they had been responding to “rioting”, beat worshippers with batons and used tear gasoline and sound bombs to drive them out of the prayer halls, in line with witnesses.

Movies shared on social media confirmed girls screaming for assist as a small fireplace erupted within the prayer corridor.

The Palestinian Crimson Crescent reported 12 folks injured, together with three who had been taken to hospital. It additionally stated in an announcement that Israeli forces prevented its medics from reaching Al-Aqsa.

At the very least 400 Palestinians had been arrested and stay in Israeli custody, in line with native officers.

Why would armed safety forces enter a mosque?

Israeli police stated in an announcement that they had been compelled to enter the compound after “masked agitators” locked themselves contained in the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.

“When the police entered, stones had been thrown at them and fireworks had been fired from contained in the mosque by a big group of agitators,” the assertion stated, including {that a} police officer was wounded within the leg.

The Israeli police additionally stated that in line with a previous settlement with the Al-Aqsa compound authorities, nobody was to spend the evening contained in the compound throughout the month of Ramadan.

“The police stated they ‘peacefully’ tried to persuade folks to depart however when that didn’t occur they compelled their approach into Al-Aqsa,” stated Al Jazeera’s Natasha Ghoneim.

However Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned what occurred as “a significant crime in opposition to the worshippers”, including that “prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque just isn’t with the permission of the [Israeli] occupation … it’s our proper.”

“Al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and for all Arabs and Muslims, and the raiding of it’s a spark of revolution in opposition to the occupation,” he added.

Has this occurred earlier than?

In recent times, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been an annual flashpoint throughout Ramadan.

Final 12 months, greater than 300 Palestinians had been arrested and no less than 170 wounded as Israeli forces launched incursions on the compound throughout the holy month. This adopted lethal violence within the occupied West Financial institution in late March, by which 36 folks had been killed.

In Might 2021, Israeli forces stormed the compound utilizing tear gasoline, rubber-coated metal bullets and stun grenades in opposition to worshippers throughout Ramadan. Tons of of Palestinians had been injured, drawing worldwide condemnation.

The developments coincided with an increase in violent incidents in opposition to Palestinians by Israeli settlers and forces in East Jerusalem’s neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah as Palestinian households confronted the specter of compelled eviction from their properties.

Confrontations in Jerusalem and the broader West Financial institution culminated in an 11-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on Might 10, which killed no less than 256 Palestinians, together with 66 kids, and wounded greater than 1,900 folks, in line with the well being ministry in Gaza. 13 folks had been killed in Israel, together with two kids, one Indian girl and two Thai males.

Why are Palestinians fearful about Al-Aqsa’s future?

The Al-Aqsa compound sits on a plateau in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured within the 1967 Six-Day Warfare and later annexed in a transfer not recognised by most within the worldwide group.

For Muslims, the compound hosts Islam’s third-holiest website, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock, a seventh-century construction believed to be the place the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The compound can be the place Jews consider the Biblical Jewish temples as soon as stood and is thought to them as Temple Mount.

The contested website has been the point of interest of the decades-long Israeli occupation of the West Financial institution.

“Jerusalem is maybe the primary challenge that has the potential of triggering wide-scale violence,” Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Heart for Coverage and Survey Analysis, instructed Al Jazeera final 12 months. “Now we have seen that previously,” he stated.

Palestinians see Al-Aqsa as one of many few nationwide symbols over which they keep some ingredient of management. They’re, nevertheless, petrified of a gradual encroachment by Jewish teams akin to what has occurred on the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron, the place half of the mosque was become a synagogue after 1967.

Palestinians are additionally frightened about far-right Israeli actions that wish to demolish the Islamic constructions within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and construct a Jewish temple there.

Why do Jews wish to enter Al-Aqsa compound?

In recent times, giant teams of nationalist Jews have commonly visited the positioning with police escorts, one thing the Palestinians view as a provocation.

Earlier this week, Israel’s far-right Nationwide Safety Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir inspired Jews to go to the positioning to mark the upcoming Passover vacation, which coincides with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

On the similar time, fringe Jewish teams, together with the Return to Temple Mount, have provided money prizes to anybody who goes into Al-Aqsa Mosque and sacrifices a goat – a Jewish non secular ritual that’s prohibited contained in the mosque and that will represent an extra provocation. No sacrifices have been made on the website up to now.

On Monday, a frontrunner of one of many teams who was planning a sacrifice in Al-Aqsa was detained by Israeli police.