GAZA/JERUSALEM: At least nine rockets were fired from Gaza overnight, prompting air strikes from Israel which struck what it said were Hamas weapon production sites, setting off ground-shaking explosions heard across the blockaded coastal strip.
Witnesses said Israeli tanks also shelled Hamas positions along the border fence in the southern part of the Gaza strip.
Israeli police entered Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque before dawn on Wednesday and clashed with worshippers, setting off a furious reaction from Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and crossborder strikes in Gaza.
The incident, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, came amid fears that tensions built up during a year of escalating violence could be unleashed at the Al-Aqsa mosque, where clashes in 2021 set off a 10-day war with Gaza.
As day broke, the situation appeared to have calmed but the Palestinian Red Crescent said 12 Palestinians had sustained wounds, including from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings, in clashes with Israeli police. It added that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching the area.
“In the yard to the eastern part of the compound, the police fired tear gas and stun grenades, it was a scene that I can’t describe,” said Fahmi Abbas, a worshipper at the mosque. “Then they stormed in and started beating everyone. They detained people and put the young men face down on the ground while they continued beating them.”
#Israeli occupation forces storm the #AlAqsa #Masjid compound using sound #bombs against #worshippers in the Qibli Masjid. pic.twitter.com/m7Fe0nEoVv
— Kashmir NewsVille (@Kash_newsville) April 5, 2023
Videos circulating on social media, 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.
The Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed organization that manages the complex, considered the third holiest site in the Muslim world, described the police actions as a “flagrant assault on the identity and the function of the mosque as a place of worship for Muslims alone.”
