JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli security forces entered the compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem before dawn, as thousands of Palestinians gathered for prayer during the holy month of Ramadan, sparking clashes in which medics said at least 67 Palestinians were injured.
Israel said its forces stepped in to remove rocks and stones collected in anticipation of violence. The holy site, sacred to Jews and Muslims alike, has often been the epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions have already been heightened amid a recent spate of violence.
The clashes come at a particularly sensitive time. Ramadan coincides this year with Passover, an important week-long Jewish holiday that begins at sunset on Friday, and with the Christian Holy Week, which culminates on Easter Sunday. The holidays are expected to bring tens of thousands of believers to the Old City of Jerusalem, home to important sites sacred to all three religions.
Videos circulating online showed Palestinians hurling stones and police officers firing tear gas and stun grenades at the sprawling esplanade surrounding the mosque. Others showed worshipers barricading themselves inside the mosque amid clouds of tear gas.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulance Service said it evacuated 67 people to hospitals who were injured by rubber bullets, stun grenades, or beaten with batons. The foundation said one of the guards at the scene was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said dozens of masked men carrying Palestinian and Hamas flags marched to the site early Friday and collected rocks.
“Police were forced to enter the premises to disperse the crowd and remove the stones and rocks to prevent further violence,” she tweeted.
Police said they waited until prayers were over and the crowd began to disperse. A statement said the crowd had started hurling rocks toward the Western Wall, a nearby Jewish holy site, forcing them into action. They said they did not enter the mosque themselves.
The Palestinians view any major police operation in Al-Aqsa as a major provocation.
The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. It was built on a hill in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount. It has been a major flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian violence for decades and was the epicenter of the 2000-2005 Palestinian intifada, or uprising.
Tensions have risen in recent weeks after a spate of attacks by Palestinians that have killed 14 people in Israel. Israel has carried out a wave of arrests and military operations in the occupied West Bank that have sparked clashes with Palestinians.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a 17-year-old died early Friday from wounds he sustained in clashes with Israeli forces in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, the previous day.
According to an Associated Press tally, at least 25 Palestinians were killed in the latest spate of violence, many of whom had perpetrated attacks or been involved in the clashes, but also an unarmed woman and a lawyer, who appeared to have been killed in error.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians were to gather in Al-Aqsa for Friday prayers.
Weeks of protests and clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan last year eventually sparked an 11-day war with the Islamic militant Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Israel had lifted restrictions and taken other steps to ease tensions ahead of Ramadan, but the attacks and military crackdowns have sparked another wave of unrest.
Hamas condemned what it described as “brutal attacks” by Israeli forces on believers in al-Aqsa and said Israel will face “all the consequences.” She called on all Palestinians to “stand by our people in Jerusalem.”
Earlier this week, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza called on Palestinians to camp near Al-Aqsa Mosque over the weekend. Palestinians have long feared Israel plans to take over or carve up the land.
Israeli authorities say they are committed to maintaining the status quo, but in recent years nationalist and religious Jews have visited the site in large numbers with police escorts.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, home of Al-Aqsa and other important holy sites, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move that went unrecognized internationally. The Palestinians want the eastern part of the city to become the capital of a future independent state, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel also captured during the war nearly 55 years ago.