Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters in the latest clashes at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, as the United Nations expressed grave concern about the spiralling unrest.
After police stormed the compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem’s Old City, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 57 people were injured, including 14 Palestinians taken to hospital, one of whom was in a critical condition.
The clashes follow a month of deadly violence that coincided with the Jewish festival of Passover and the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
International fears of conflict have been heightened by the violence, which comes one year after similar unrest erupted into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants.
This week, Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip fired rockets at Israel, prompting the latter to send warplanes to strike the impoverished and blockaded territory.
“We are deeply concerned by the escalating violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel over the past month,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Israeli police said Palestinians began hurling stones at the Western Wall before dawn Friday, the holiest site for Jews to pray.
“Police forces used crowd dispersal means in order to stop the violence,” said a statement, adding that one officer was wounded.
Drone Tear Gas
Al-Aqsa is Islam’s third holiest site, and the Temple Mount is the most sacred site in Judaism.
According to an AFP photographer, police fired tear gas and rubber-tipped bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian youths.
During clashes, one Palestinian man sustained a severe head wound and was rushed to Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital, where a spokeswoman for the hospital told reporters he was in “very serious condition.”
According to police, the young man “threw stones and rioted” and was “seriously injured when he fell” while fleeing from them.
Following midday prayers, police said, some worshippers chanted “incitement” and attempted to vandalise a police post. According to reports, police used drones to spray tear gas from the air.
Over 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been injured in the last week in clashes in and around Al-Aqsa.
Palestinians have expressed outrage over Israel’s massive police deployment and repeated visits to the holy site by Jews.
Jews are permitted to visit under certain conditions but are not permitted to pray there, according to long-standing convention.
Alaa al-Haddad, a Palestinian worshipper, said Israel’s restriction of access to Al-Aqsa had created “tensions that resulted in clashes,” with hundreds of people arrested in recent days.
“It’s all because the occupation forces are regularly storming the holy Al-Aqsa mosque,” Haddad said.
On Thursday, Arab ministers meeting in Jordan — the custodian of east Jerusalem’s holy sites — condemned “Israeli attacks and violations against worshippers” at Al-Aqsa, calling them “a flagrant provocation of the feelings of Muslims worldwide.”
The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights demanded an investigation into Israeli police actions on Friday.
“The use of force by Israeli police resulting in widespread injuries among worshippers and staff in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque compound must be promptly, impartially, independently and transparently investigated,” Shamdasani said.
However, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid contradicted Palestinian claims on Thursday following a meeting with US acting Assistant Secretary of State Yael Lempert. He insisted that Israel was “maintaining and will continue to maintain the status quo on the Temple Mount.”
Gaza rocket attack
The recent spike in violence, which includes four deadly attacks inside Israel by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs since March 22, has claimed 14 lives.
According to reports, 24 Palestinians have been killed during the same period, including assailants who targeted Israelis.
Ibrahim Labdy, 20, of Jenin, died on Friday as a result of injuries sustained during an Israeli raid on the city last week.
The Gaza Strip’s coastal enclave of Gaza, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas, has also seen an increase in violence, with crowds rallying on Friday in solidarity with those in Al-Aqsa.
Gaza militants and Israeli warplanes exchanged fire on Thursday, the highest level of hostility in months.
Late Wednesday, after militants launched a rocket that struck the garden of a house in southern Israel — the first such attack since January — Israel launched air strikes against Gaza.
The military claimed to have struck an underground rocket factory, eliciting another barrage of rockets from Gaza.
Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, stated that the movement was “determined to continue the struggle… regardless of the sacrifices.”
The violence has created a political headache for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who leads a coalition government that is ideologically divided.
Following the loss of its one-seat majority in parliament earlier this month, the Raam party, which is composed of members of the country’s Arab minority, withdrew its support for the coalition over the Al-Aqsa clashes.