Clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque.. Fears of a new escalation after a police operation

Status: 04/05/2023 12:40 PM

Hundreds of people were arrested after clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Concerns are growing about further escalation. Rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip and the Israeli army launched counterattacks.

By Clemens Ferencott, ARD Studio Tel Aviv

Video footage of the occupation police inside Al-Aqsa Mosque: firecrackers explode, screams can be heard, and policemen in black uniforms wearing helmets and protective shields storm the mosque.

Clemens Ferencott
ARD Studio Vienna

The occupation police forces began their operations at night in Al-Aqsa Mosque. The police then said that the “troublemakers” had barricaded themselves there with firecrackers, sticks and stones. Previous attempts to persuade the youth to leave the mosque failed.

Stun grenades and batons

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at the time of the clashes, in the middle of Ramadan, there were a large number of believers in the mosque. Eyewitnesses reported that police forces used stun grenades and batons. Reuters quoted an eyewitness as saying, “They stormed the place and started beating everyone.” An elderly woman said after leaving the mosque, according to the agency:

“I was praying and sitting on a chair reciting the Qur’an. They threw stun grenades, one of which hit me in the chest. My family will see me now and they will be terrified.”

350 provisional arrests

According to the police, more than 350 men were provisionally detained. The Israeli army said Palestinian militants fired 16 rockets in response to the clashes on the Israeli border area. The projectiles were either destroyed by the Iron Dome anti-missile shield or landed in an unpopulated area. No one is hurt.

Then the Israeli forces bombed three targets in the Gaza Strip. Army spokesman Daniel Hajjari said on Israeli radio this morning:

We cannot determine who is behind the bombing. It is not said that it is Hamas, it could be that other rebel organizations are behind it. We do not issue any specific instructions to residents at this time. I would advise anyone planning their bank holiday in the south to go and if anything changes we will issue new instructions.

“The security situation is very tense,” Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Tel Aviv, said on the clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Tagesshaw at 12:00 PM, April 5, 2023

The minister demands firmness

After sunset, the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover begins with the Seder evenings. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia strongly condemned the Israeli police’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque. In separate statements, it was said, among other things, that the “storm” of the mosque – the third most important sacred site of Islam – undermines peace efforts between Israelis and Palestinians.

He demanded that Israel’s right-wing national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, deal with the rocket fire harshly. Bin Jufair said: It is time to “lower the heads”.

At least 350 temporary arrests after clashes in Jerusalem

Clemens Ferencott, now Tel Aviv, Apr 5, 2023 11:52 am

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