The Israeli police violently cleared the esplanade of mosques in occupied East Jerusalem for the second night in a row this Wednesday, when thousands of devout Muslims were still in the complex for night prayers of the holy month of Ramadan. In response to the attack, Palestinian militants again fired multiple rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel overnight and into the early hours of Thursday morning. Rising tensions have also spread to the occupied West Bank and Palestinian-majority areas inside Israel, where protests and clashes with security forces have erupted. Abroad, international condemnations of the violence recorded in the Holy Land and calls for calm are mounting, while the UN Security Council is expected to meet this Thursday to consider the situation.
Videos and images circulated on social networks and by local media of the attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Wednesday night show Israeli police officers forcibly evacuating those who had gathered for prayer. The evacuation took place earlier than in the morning, probably to prevent some believers from locking themselves in the mosque again. The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed multiple cases of asphyxiation from tear gas and reported that its medical staff treated six wounded during the attack.
“tie yourself up”
The Israeli police, for their part, blamed the events on “dozens of young lawbreakers” and declared in a statement that some of those present at the Al-Aqsa complex “again tried to close the doors of the mosque” with the aim of “barricading themselves in place” like the night before, leading to their intervention. During the month of Ramadan, the non-compulsory Islamic practice of Itikaf, which consists of seclusion in a mosque for a few days to devote oneself fully to the worship of Allah, is common, but Israeli authorities do not allow it.
During the first attack, the Palestinian Detainee Affairs Commission documented the arrest of more than 450 people, the vast majority of whom were released later in the day on condition that they stay away from Al Aqsa for a week, a statement said. He also denounced excessive use of force and serious injuries among detainees. The Jerusalem Red Crescent claimed to have treated 25 wounded after the initial evacuation.
At the same time, according to the Palestinian agency Wafa, several Palestinians have been injured in different parts of the West Bank, where there have been protests against events in Al Aqsa and clashes with Israeli forces. Local media have also chronicled protests in several Palestinian-majority cities or cities with a large Palestinian presence in Israel, including the city of Haifa.
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The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting behind closed doors on Thursday to discuss the rise in violence in Al Aqsa, according to some local media, citing diplomatic sources. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “shocked and appalled” by the images of “violence and beatings by the Israeli security forces in the mosque” in Al Aqsa, according to his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric. The Arab League also held an emergency meeting.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the attack on Al-Aqsa and the faithful gathered at the compound was “a slap in the face to recent efforts by the United States to seek calm and stability in 2019.” create Ramadan.” In this sense, Egypt hosted a meeting between Palestinians and Israelis at the end of March, with the presence of representatives of Jordan and the United States, to try to reduce violence in the Palestinian territories occupied in recent months. Just before the meeting in Egypt, another meeting was held in Jordan for the same purpose.This Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre assured at a press conference that they remain “extremely concerned about the ongoing violence” in Jerusalem and urged “all parties to avoid further escalation”.
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