News Desk :
Jerusalem Hundreds of Palestinians were injured on Monday after the Israeli police entered the Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, a site sacred to both Muslims and Jews, following a week of rising tension in the city. The police fired rubber-tipped bullets and stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinians who had stockpiled stones at the site in expectation of a standoff with Jewish far-right groups.
By the afternoon, there were more than 330 people injured, with at least 250 people transferred to the hospital, according to a representative of the Palestinian Red Crescent. One person was hit in the head by a bullet and was in a critical condition, the medical aid group said, with at least two more in serious or critical condition. At least 21 police officers were injured, according to the police.
Tensions were expected to rise further as the day progressed, with thousands of far-right Israelis scheduled to march provocatively through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City on Monday afternoon to mark the capture of East Jerusalem during the Arab-Israeli war in 1967, an anniversary known in Israel as Jerusalem Day. Israel subsequently annexed that part of the city, a move that most of the world has not recognized. Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.
Videos posted on Twitter showed chaos both outside and inside the mosque, where some worshipers could be seen sheltering
from explosions while others threw stones and set off fireworks. In another clip, police officers were seen striking a man being detained in part of the mosque compound. By early afternoon, the police had retreated from the site.
Another video released by the police showed young men throwing stones from the perimeter of the mosque compound onto the land below. A separate clip, taken by a surveillance camera, appeared to show a Jewish man swerving into a passer-by after stones hit his car and Palestinians pulled open the car doors. The Hadassah Medical Center reported that a 7-month-old girl was also treated after being lightly injured in the head by a rock.
Witnesses at the mosque reacted with shock at the Israeli police tactics at one of the world’s holiest sites. “Why have they been attacking the Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan?” asked Khaled Zabarqa, 48, a lawyer who said he had been praying at the mosque compound before escaping after the first shots were fired.
“The Aqsa Mosque is a sacred place for Muslims,” Mr. Zabarqa added. “Israel is starting a religious war.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel praised the police for “taking a strong stand.”
Courtesy: The New York Times
