At least 152 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday, the latest outbreak of violence that has stoked fears of another conflict.
According to several media outlets, most of the injuries sustained by Palestinian protesters were caused by rubber bullets, stun grenades and beatings with police batons.
The clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old Walled City pose the threat of a more serious episode, like the Gaza war that took place last year.
The Al-Aqsa complex sits on the plateau of the Old City of East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif or The Noble Sanctuary. The Jews call it the Temple Mount.
Israeli police said hundreds of Palestinians hurled firecrackers and stones at their forces and at the Jewish prayer area near the Western Wall in the Old City after Ramadan morning prayers.
Police “then entered the Al-Aqsa compound to disperse and push back [a la multitud y] allow the rest of the faithful to leave the place safely,’ a statement said. Three officers were injured in the clashes.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry, referring to the violence in the holy compound, said the episode “makes Israel fully and directly responsible for this crime and its consequences.”
