Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers erupt at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, 350 arrested
Israeli police clashed with Palestinian worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on April 5. Police said they arrested 350 people in a pre-dawn raid after “agitators” with fireworks, sticks, and stones barricaded themselves inside. Palestinians said stun grenades and rubber bullets were used to clear out the group, resulting in 14 injuries. Later, militants in Gaza fired nine rockets at Israel and its military carried out air strikes in response. The incident took place just ahead of an overlap between the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday.
On April 5, Palestinians barricaded themselves in the mosque after the evening Ramadan prayer amid reports that Jewish extremists wanted to try to sacrifice a Passover goat at the site, as Jews did in Biblical times before the Romans destroyed their temple there.
Israeli police said that “several law-breaking youths and masked agitators” fortified the mosque “in order to disrupt public order and desecrate the mosque.” The police had to enter the compound after multiple unsuccessful attempts to get the agitators out. Video released by the police showed fireworks exploding and heavily armed officers in riot gear moving in. Pictures of the aftermath showed overturned furniture and prayer mats scattered across the carpet. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman condemned the Israeli raid, describing it as an attack on Muslim worshippers.
The leader of the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, called the incident “an unprecedented crime” and warned Israel that there would be “consequences”. Following the clashes, militants fired nine rockets from Gaza, triggering sirens in communities in southern Israel. The Israeli military said its aircraft struck weapon manufacturing sites and a storage site belonging to Hamas in response, as well as a military compound used for training. Israeli tanks also struck military posts along the Israel-Gaza border fence. There were no reports of casualties on either side.
The incident is the latest in a series of escalations in tensions between Israel and Palestine. In May 2021, violence at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound prompted Hamas to fire rockets towards Jerusalem, triggering an 11-day conflict with Israel.