JERUSALEM — The Israeli police raided probably the most distinguished holy web site in Jerusalem early on Wednesday to detain scores of Palestinians who had barricaded themselves inside, prompting armed teams in Gaza to fireplace rockets into Israeli airspace and the Israeli Air Power to reply with strikes on army websites in Gaza.
Temporary clashes broke out in different components of Jerusalem’s Previous Metropolis in response to the raid, on the Aqsa Mosque compound, and there have been calls in lots of cities for Palestinians to return to the compound to guard it. However by later Wednesday morning, the scenario had calmed.
The police pressured their approach into one of many two major prayer halls on the contested holy web site, which is sacred to each Muslims and Jews. Within the ensuing confrontations, law enforcement officials struck Palestinians with batons and Palestinians fired fireworks. Palestinian information retailers stated the police had fired tear gasoline and sponge-tipped bullets.
Palestinians additionally threw stones at officers, in keeping with the police. The police stated that they had arrested and eliminated greater than 350 Palestinians from the compound; a Palestinian prisoners’ rights group stated greater than 400 had been arrested.
Clashes usually happen on the Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews name the Temple Mount, during times of stress within the area. Officers and diplomats have been warning that the overlap of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish vacation of Passover, which begins on Wednesday night, might make such clashes extra doubtless.
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The police stated the Palestinians had locked the doorways of the prayer corridor, the Qibli Mosque, from the within and barricaded the entrances, hours after the taraweeh prayers, that are held nightly throughout Ramadan. The police stated that they had raided the mosque after extended makes an attempt to influence the worshipers to go away.
After the raid, armed teams in Gaza launched at the least 9 rockets towards Israel, 5 of which had been intercepted by the nation’s air protection system, with the 4 others touchdown in open fields, in keeping with the Israeli army. Hours later, Israel carried out quite a few airstrikes on army websites in Gaza, in keeping with Palestinian information media and the Israeli army.
Some Palestinians had known as for worshipers to go to Aqsa for itikaf, a convention of staying in a single day in a mosque for worship, which is practiced particularly throughout Ramadan. They expressed concern that with Passover starting, extra Jewish worshipers would come to the positioning.
For many years after capturing the positioning from Jordan within the Arab-Israeli warfare of 1967, Israel prevented Jews from praying on the compound. However they’ve been tacitly allowed to take action in recent times, which has angered many Palestinians and Muslim states within the area. Some Jewish activists lately known as for sacrificing a goat on the compound to look at Passover, one thing that the Israeli police have repeatedly stated they might forestall.
Since Ramadan started two weeks in the past, the police have been forcing Muslims to go away the Aqsa compound after the nightly taraweeh prayers to make sure that they don’t keep in a single day. The police have additionally prevented many younger Palestinian males from getting into the mosque compound for morning prayers, in keeping with Palestinian information retailers.
On Saturday, the Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian citizen of Israel in disputed circumstances at one of many entrances of the mosque compound. Police stated the person seized and fired a police officer’s gun. Palestinian information retailers reported that he had been killed throughout a scuffle after intervening to stop the assault of a Palestinian lady.
