Violence erupts again at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli police have clashed with Palestinians at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque a second time, witnesses say, hours after the arrest and removal of more than 350 people in a police raid at the compound and despite US and UN appeals to ease tensions.

The confrontations, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover holiday, triggered a cross-border exchange of fire in Gaza and stoked fears of further violence.

In the second instance, late on Wednesday, police entered the compound and tried to remove worshippers, using stun grenades and firing rubber bullets, said staff of the Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed Islamic organisation managing the complex.

Worshippers threw objects at police, witnesses said. The Palestinian Red Crescent said six people were injured.

Police said dozens of youngsters brought rocks and firecrackers into the mosque and tried to barricade themselves inside. The Waqf, however, said police entered the mosque before prayers were over.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: “Israel’s raid into Al-Aqsa mosque, its assault on worshippers, is a slap to recent US efforts which tried to create calm and stability during the month of Ramadan.”

Less than 24 hours earlier, police raided the mosque to try to remove what they said were masked agitators who locked themselves inside after attempts to remove them by dialogue failed.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians were injured in the earlier clash. Israeli police said two officers were injured.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby voiced concern about the violence and said it was imperative that Israelis and Palestinians de-escalated tensions.

Palestinian militants fired at least nine rockets from Gaza into Israel after the first clash, drawing air strikes that Israel said targeted weapon production sites for the Islamist group Hamas that controls the blockaded enclave.

No casualties were reported. Hamas did not claim responsibility for the rockets but said they were a response to the raid on Al-Aqsa, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.

Just before the second clash, two more rockets were fired from Gaza.

Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City is Islam’s third-holiest site where tens of thousands pray during Ramadan. It is also Judaism’s most sacred site, revered as the Temple Mount, a vestige of the two biblical Jewish temples.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was committed to freedom or worship and blamed the situation on “extremists”.

The Waqf described the police actions as a “flagrant assault on the identity and the function of the mosque as a place of worship for Muslims alone”.

“Leaders on all sides must act responsibly and refrain from steps that could escalate tensions,” said the UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.

After an emergency meeting, the Arab League condemned the raid and said it endangered regional stability.

The incident added to an already fevered political atmosphere in Israel, which is reeling from weeks of protests of Netanyahu’s plans to rein in the powers of the Supreme Court.

Far-right Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a harsh response. “Hamas rockets require more than blasting dunes and empty sites. It’s time to rip heads off in Gaza,” he said in a tweet.

Australian Associated Press