GAZA: Repressive Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem before dawn on Wednesday and arrested over 350 people as Tel Aviv claimed it was acting against Palestinians who had barricaded themselves inside, leading to violence against worshippers and triggering an exchange of crossborder fire.

The incident comes during the holy month of Ramazan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, stoking fears of further violence at the mosque compound.

Palestinian militants fired at least nine rockets from Gaza into Israel, prompting air strikes from Israel which hit what it claimed were weapon production sites for Hamas, which controls the blockaded coastal enclave.

Hamas did not claim responsibility for the rocket attacks, but said they were a response to the raid on Al-Aqsa.

12 Palestinians injured as police beat people inside mosque; US, Arab League and China express alarm

Ground-shaking explosions from the airstrikes rocked Gaza and witnesses said Israeli tanks also shelled Hamas positions.

“We are not interested in an escalation but we are ready for any scenario,” Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

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

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians had sustained injuries during the raid, including from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings, in clashes with police. It said Israeli forces had prevented its medics from reaching the area.

“In the yard to the eastern part of the compound, the police fired tear gas and stun grenades,” said Fahmi Abbas, a worshipper who was at the mosque when the raid occurred. “Then they stormed in and started beating everyone.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation had been caused by “extremists” who barricaded themselves inside the mosque with weapons, stones and fireworks.

Videos circulating on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed fireworks going off and police beating people inside one of the mosque buildings. Police video showed police entering the building while fire crackers exploded in the darkness.

“I was sitting on a chair reciting (the Holy Quran),” an elderly woman told Reuters outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. “They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest,” she said, crying.

Israeli police said officers entered the compound after what it called masked agitators locked themselves inside the mosque and after attempts to remove them by dialogue failed.

More than 350 people inside were arrested and removed from the compound, police said.

“Throughout the presence of police forces in the compound, stones were thrown and multiple firecrackers were set off inside the mosque by many law-breaking individuals and rioters,” the police statement said, adding that two officers were wounded.

Thousands of worshippers had been spending the night in the mosque compound amid fears of possible clashes with Jewish visitors to the site for Passover. “Leaders on all sides must act responsibly and refrain from steps that could escalate tensions,” said the UN Special Coord­inator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland.

The United States said it was alarmed by the violence.

The Arab League condemned Israel’s “extremist approach” and said it would hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China asked the 15-member United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation behind closed-doors on Thursday, said diplomats.

The UAE’s foreign ministry also said “worshippers should not barricade themselves inside the mosque and places of worship with weapons and explosives”.

Jordan and Egypt, both involved in recent U.S.-backed efforts to de-escalate Israel-Palestinian tensions, issued separate statements condemning the incident. Saudi Arabia, with which Israel hopes to normalise ties, said Israel’s “storming” of Al-Aqsa undermined peace efforts.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2023