More than 20 people were injured in new clashes around the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 19 Palestinians were among the wounded, some of whom were hit by rubber bullets.
Five of them were taken to the hospital. Seven other people were injured by Palestinian youths who threw stones on the outskirts of Jerusalem’s Old City.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have increased significantly in recent weeks. Sunday’s violence has increased the number of wounded in Jerusalem to more than 170 since Friday. Tensions come during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which this year coincides with Jewish Easter and Christian Easter.
Stones thrown at bus
According to Israeli police, hundreds of Palestinian protesters piled rocks on Sunday morning, shortly before a planned visit by Jewish believers to the Temple Mount. Security forces intervened to “restore order”. A team of AFP reporters saw Jewish believers leaving the Temple Mount this morning. They were accompanied by heavily armed police.
In another incident in East Jerusalem, annexed to Israel, Palestinian youths threw stones at passing Israeli buses. A video released by police showed two buses with broken windshields and side windows. According to its own statements, Shaare-Zedek Hospital admitted seven people with minor injuries. Israeli police reported the arrest of 18 Palestinians.
Last year, clashes on the Temple Mount and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque led to days of clashes between the radical Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Israeli security forces. When an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire took effect, 260 Palestinians and 13 Israelis had been killed.
The Temple Mount with the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the adjacent Dome of the Rock is considered the third holiest site in Islam (Al-Haram al-Sharif). Judaism reveres the Temple Mount as its holiest site (Har HaBait). Access to the Temple Mount is strictly regulated. Jews are allowed to visit the holy place, but not to pray there.
Pope demands access to holy places
Palestinian High Representative Hussein al-Sheikh accused Israel of being responsible for Sunday’s violence. “Israel’s dangerous escalation of the Al-Aqsa complex” is a “blatant attack on our holy sites,” he said. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh declared: “Al-Aqsa (mosque) belongs to us, and us alone.” Over loudspeakers, mosques in Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem invited people to come to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In light of the recent violence in Jerusalem, Pope Francis called for “peace” in the Middle East and free access to the Temple Mount for Jews, Christians and Muslims in his Easter message. “May Israelis, Palestinians and all residents of the Holy City, together with pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, live in brotherhood and have free access to the Holy Places with mutual respect for the rights of each individual,” he said.
Germany’s Central Council of Muslims urged the federal government to work to protect the Al-Aqsa mosque and worshipers “and end the provocations on the Temple Mount to end the spiral of violence”.