After riots on the Temple Mount, the situation in the Middle East continues to deteriorate. Israeli security forces clashed with dozens of Palestinians on Wednesday night. According to the police, around 350 people were arrested. They had barricaded themselves in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and set off firecrackers and threw stones, a spokeswoman said in the morning. Two police officers were injured. Police reportedly used tear gas and stun grenades to evacuate the mosque.
According to media reports, seven people on the Palestinian side were injured by rubber bullets and beatings. Israeli forces prevented the paramedics from reaching the mosque, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the police actions. According to the Wafa news agency, he warned against “crossing the red lines at the holy places”. This could lead to a “big explosion”. Israel play with fire. According to the police, it was initially quiet on the site in the morning.
Israeli police said they were forced to enter the premises after “masked agitators” locked themselves inside the mosque with firecrackers, sticks and stones. “A large group of rioters fired firecrackers from inside the mosque.” Videos on social media show firecrackers being set off and police beating people inside the mosque. However, these recordings could not immediately be independently verified.
Both sides respond with rocket attacks
In response, radical Palestinians from the Gaza Strip fired ten rockets into Israeli territory during the night. According to the military, five of them were intercepted, four landed in an open area and one near a factory in the Israeli city of Sderot. In the early hours of the morning, Israel then attacked several targets in the coastal strip. Among them were a military area and a military post. Security circles in the Gaza Strip said the facilities belonged to the armed wing of the ruling Hamas there. They were badly damaged in the attack. Nobody got hurt.
A Hamas spokesman said: “The bombing will not intimidate us, but will reinforce our commitment to exercising our right to support the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.” Gaza will continue to support the people of Jerusalem and the West Bank “by all means”. A spokesman for the Israeli military said the army was “on the highest alert in all areas”. An attack from Gaza will be reacted to decisively. “We are not interested in an escalation, but we are prepared for any scenario.”
Tensions on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which is a holy site for both Muslims and Jews, have escalated in recent years. The situation is more tense this year, partly because the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan, coincides with the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter, which means that more people from all religious groups are visiting the site.