Over 150 hurt in Jerusalem clashes as religious festivals overlap

More than 150 people were wounded Friday in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the first face-off in the area since the start of Ramadan.

Israeli police said “dozens of masked men” marched into Al-Aqsa setting off fireworks before crowds hurled stones towards the Western Wall -- considered the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Witnesses said Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who fired rubber-coated bullets and sound grenades.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 153 people were hospitalised and “dozens of other injuries” were treated at the scene. Israeli police said at least three officers were hurt.

Around 400 people were arrested, said the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, a group which supports inmates.

The clashes come after three tense weeks of deadly violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and as the Jewish festival of Passover and Christian Easter overlap with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Aqsa is Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount, referencing two temples said to have stood there in antiquity. Last year during Muslim fasting month, clashes that flared in Jerusalem, including between Israeli forces and Palestinians visiting Al-Aqsa, led to 11 days of devastating conflict between Israel and Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Friday’s “riots” were “unacceptable”.

“The convergence of Passover, Ramadan, and Easter is symbolic of what we have in common. We must not let anyone turn these holy days into a platform for hate, incitement, and violence,” he said.

UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland urged “the authorities on both sides to immediately de-escalate the situation and prevent any further provocations by radical actors”.

‘Red line’

Police said crowds had hurled rocks “in the direction of the Western Wall... and as the violence surged, police were forced to enter the grounds surrounding the Mosque,” adding officers “did not enter the mosque.”

But Al-Aqsa mosque director Omar al-Kiswani told AFP that an “assault was made inside the Al-Aqsa mosque”.

“More than 80 young people inside the holy mosque were displaced,” he said, adding: “Al-Aqsa mosque is a red line”.

Before Ramadan, Israel and Jordan stepped up talks in an effort to avoid a repeat of last year’s violence. Jordan serves as custodian of the mosque compound, while Israel controls access.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said there was “no place for the invaders and occupiers in our holy Jerusalem”. Analysts say the group wants to keep the conflict alive in the West Bank and in Jerusalem but avoid escalation in the Gaza Strip after last year’s war, and with thousands of Gazans’ Israeli work permits at risk.