Friday, March 29, 2024

Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa Mosque, 150 Palestinians injured

Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday. It was the most serious violence at the holy site in nearly a year. 

Medics reported at least 158 Palestinians injured in the ensuing violence as hundreds were detained.

Israeli police entered in force before dawn on Friday, as thousands of Muslims were gathered at the mosque for early morning prayers.

Videos showed Palestinians throwing rocks and police firing tear gas and stun grenades. Videos also showed worshippers barricading themselves inside the mosque amid what appeared to be clouds of tear gas.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it evacuated the majority of the wounded to hospitals. Israeli forces hindered the arrival of ambulances and paramedics to the mosque, Red Crescent alleged.

“They [Israeli forces] brutally emptied the compound. They were attacking the mosque staff, normal people, elders, and young people. There were many injured people, they fired rubber bullets inside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. They were beating everyone, even the paramedics, they hit them,” Palestinian cameraman Rami al-Khatib, who witnessed the raid, said to the reporters.

The Palestinian presidency said in a statement the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by Israeli police was “a dangerous development” and “a declaration of war.”

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas that governs the Gaza Strip, said the Palestinian people would defend and protect Al-Aqsa Mosque at all costs.

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