Light clashes pitted Israeli police against Palestinian protesters on Sunday (July 18) on the Mosque Esplanade in East Jerusalem, called the Temple Mount by Jews, where hundreds of Jewish worshipers gathered for an annual commemoration.
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"
Young Palestinians
" present Sunday morning on the Mosque plaza "
started throwing stones at the security forces who dispersed them
", said the Israeli police who did not report any injuries. .
At the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Esplanade des Mosques is located in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian sector of the city occupied since 1967 by Israel, which then annexed it without being recognized by the international community.
More than 1,500 Jews went to the Esplanade des Mosques on Sunday, the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site in Judaism because it is considered the location of their two Temples, according to concordant sources.
These Jewish faithful went there as part of the commemoration of Tisha Beav, a day of mourning which marks the destruction of the two Temples, the first destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.
AD and the second by the Romans in the year 70.
In 2019, during this commemoration, dozens of Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli security forces who control access to the esplanade, which is however administered by the Waqf, a Jordan-dependent body that manages the Muslim holy places of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Jews are allowed to go to the esplanade during specific hours but not to pray there in order to avoid stirring up tensions.
On Sunday, the Waqf denounced in a
press
release “
provocations
” on the part of Jewish faithful and the Israeli security forces on the esplanade, even a “
violation
” of the “
holiness
” of this Muslim holy place by the faithful and the police. The Palestinian presidency denounced an "
escalation
" of tensions which "
threaten the stability of the region
" and for which the Israeli authorities are "
responsible
".
New Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had asked the police to allow visits by Jews to the plaza on Sunday. After the statements of the Palestinian Authority and the Waqf, he added that “
freedom of worship will also be fully protected for Muslims
”. The delegation of the European Union to the Palestinian Territories expressed concern over these "
tensions
" and called on the parties to avoid "
incitement
" to hatred.
