05/10/2021 9:29 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/10/2021 1:08 PM
Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters at a disputed place of worship in
Jerusalem
on Monday in a series
of incidents that are pushing the city over the edge.
In the evening,
rockets
were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel after the Islamist Hamas movement threatened a new escalation if Israel did not withdraw its forces from the Esplanade, where 300 Palestinians were injured.
More than a dozen tear gas cans and stun grenades fell Monday morning at the
Al Aqsa Mosque,
located in a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims, according to an Associated Press photographer at the scene.
There was a cloud of smoke in front of the mosque and the iconic golden-domed shrine, and the surrounding plaza was
strewn with stones
.
In one corner of the compound, shoes and debris piled up on the rugs.
More than 305 Palestinians were injured, of whom
228 went to clinics
and hospitals for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Seven of the injured were in serious condition.
Police reported 21 officers injured, three of whom were hospitalized.
To the stones in the Old City of Jerusalem.
Photo: Reuters
The altercations came after days of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli authorities in the old part of Jerusalem,
the emotional center of the conflict
.
They also coincide with Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims and which is a period of great religious sensitivity.
Another factor at play is an eviction plan in an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem, where Israeli settlers have fought a long legal battle to seize control of several properties.
Hundreds of Palestinians and some two dozen policemen have been injured in recent days in altercations around the Esplanade of the Mosques.
The place, known by Jews as
the Temple Mount
and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is considered the
holiest
place
of the Jews and the third of Islam.
Stones and rubber bullets
Protesters had barricaded the gates of the compound with wooden planks and scrap metal since early morning, according to an AP photographer at the scene.
At some point after 7 in the morning the clashes began, in which people inside the compound
threw stones at the police
deployed outside.
Police entered the compound and used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.
At one point, there were about 400 people in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, including young protesters and older worshipers.
The police fired tear gas and stun grenades inside the temple.
Protesters threw stones from the compound onto an adjoining street near the Western Wall and where Jews had gathered to pray, according to police.
After several days of violence in Jerusalem, Israel has come under increasing criticism for its
aggressive actions
there, especially during Ramadan.
More than 305 Palestinians were injured.
Photo: EFE
The United Nations Security Council has scheduled closed-door consultations on the situation in Jerusalem for Monday.
The meeting was requested by Tunisia, an Arab representative on the council, according to diplomats.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke Sunday night with his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, and made a call for calm.
Sullivan called on Israel to "take appropriate measures to
ensure calm
" and voiced the US's "grave concerns" about the violence and eviction plans, according to a White House statement.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the criticism on Monday, describing the situation as
a security problem
.
Israel is determined to guarantee the right of worship to everyone, he said, which "from time to time requires standing up and standing up as the Israeli police and our security forces are doing now."
Palestinians seek refuge.
Photo: AFP
Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said in a tweet that "extremist Palestinians planned to stage riots well in advance" at the compound.
Ayman Odeh, a prominent Arab politician in Israel, attributed the violence to discriminatory practices against Palestinians and said Israel had provoked the violence.
"Wherever there is occupation, there will be resistance," he told a news conference in Sheikh Jarrah, near homes under threat of eviction.
In other violent incidents, Palestinian protesters threw stones at an Israeli vehicle.
Photo: Reuters
In other violent incidents, Palestinian protesters threw stones at an Israeli vehicle traveling outside the walls of the Old City.
The pilot appeared to lose control and
crashed into a pedestrian
.
Two passengers were injured, police said in a statement.
The police had
banned Jews from
visiting the site on Monday, when
Jerusalem Day
is celebrated
with a parade of Israeli nationalists through the Muslim Quarter in Old Jerusalem and to the Western Wall, the holiest place where you can pray a Jew.
The annual event is widely regarded as
a provocative demonstration
of Jewish hegemony over the disputed city.
Participants celebrate
Israel's
capture of East Jerusalem
in the 1967 Middle East War.
Associated Press
Look also
Israeli President Tasks Opposition Yair Lapid To Form Government After Netanyahu Failure
Stampede in Israel: what is Lag BaOmer about, the holiday on which the young Argentine Daniel Embón died
