Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque in force before dawn on Wednesday and clashed with worshippers, drawing condemnation from Arab countries and a furious reaction in the occupied West Bank and crossborder strikes in Gaza.
The incident, during the holy month of Ramazan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, came amid fears that tensions built up during a year of escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence could be unleashed at the Al-Aqsa mosque, known to Jews as Temple Mount.
Palestinian militants fired at least nine rockets from Gaza into Israel overnight, 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 these were in response to the Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.
As 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,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.
As day broke, with international efforts underway to de-escalate the situation, tensions appeared to have calmed in Al-Aqsa, where large crowds of worshippers spent the night as is common during Ramazan.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians had suffered wounds during the raid, including from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings, in clashes with the police. It added that 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, it was a scene that I can’t describe,” said Fahmi Abbas, a worshipper at the mosque.“Then they stormed in and started beating everyone. They detained people and put the young men face down on the ground while they continued beating them.”
Israeli police said in a statement that security units were forced to enter the compound after what it called masked agitators locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.
It said more than 350 people who had barricaded themselves inside were arrested and removed.
The Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed Islamic organisation that manages the complex, considered the third holiest site in the Muslim world, 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”.
The incident drew a sharp reaction from Arab countries.
