Israeli Police Clash With Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Arresting 350

Israeli police entered Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early Wednesday morning, firing stun grenades at Palestinian youths who hurled rocks and fireworks at them. Some 350 people were arrested. The conflict has raised concerns of a wider conflagration during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan and as Jews prepare to begin the Passover festival. Clashes like these two years ago erupted into an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas. The mosque is on Haram Al-Sharif/the Temple Mount, a hilltop that was the location of the biblical Jewish temples and that is considered Judaism’s holiest site and is the third-holiest site in Islam. It is typically packed with worshippers during Ramadan. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said dozens of worshippers were injured in the police raid. Members of armed Palestinian groups in Gaza responded with rocket fire on southern Israel, prompting Israeli airstrikes. Israeli police said they moved in after “law-breaking youths and masked agitators” brought fireworks, sticks, and stones, and barricaded themselves in the mosque. Tensions have been steadily rising since Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s far-right government took office late last year.

Israeli police clash with Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, April 5, 2023. (Israel Police)