On Sunday morning, more than 20 Israelis and Palestinians were injured in some clashes around the AlAqsa Mosque: Violent clashes broke out in the area of the mosque on Friday, in which dozens of people were injured.
Israeli police said early Sunday morning some Palestinian protesters at the mosque began piling stones just before the arrival of Jewish visitors (who have the right to visit the Temple Mount but are not allowed to stop to pray there). Police say they searched the complex to disperse protesters and restore order. According to the Palestinian Red Cross, 17 Palestinians were injured, five of whom were hospitalized. Some of the wounded had been hit with rubber bullets.
In front of the Old City of Jerusalem, some young Palestinians then threw stones at passing Israeli buses and smashed their windows: seven people were slightly injured. Israeli police said they arrested 18 Palestinians.
The AlAqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Medina and Mecca because it was built on the spot from which according to the Koran the Prophet Muhammad was transported through the afterlife during the socalled miraculous “night journey” to meet Allah and to receive the teachings of the Koran from him. It is located on the socalled “Esplanade of the Mosques”, one of the most contentious religious sites in the world, where clashes between Israelis and Palestinians often occur.
A few meters from the alAqsa Mosque, in fact, there is also the socalled Western Wall, one of the most important places of worship for Jews since it is the only remnant of the Temple of Solomon destroyed by the Romans during the siege of Jerusalem in 70. AD and never rebuilt. Not far from the Esplanade is therefore also the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where, according to Christians, Jesus Christ was buried and then rose from the dead.
This morning’s clashes come after Friday’s heavy clashes and there are fears they will continue or become a series: both due to the tensions of recent weeks which have led to a spate of terrorist attacks in Israel and , because in 2022 For the first time in ten years, the days of the Christian Passover festival the socalled Passover triduum are in the Passover week, which is celebrated this year in the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims.