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Israeli forces entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem for the second consecutive night during Ramadan. They assaulted Palestinian worshippers with rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and stun grenades, and chased them down, beating them with batons.
A mosque volunteer confirmed that the mosque had been emptied of Palestinians within an hour of the raid. The Israeli forces also targeted the Qibli prayer hall, where the worshippers had barricaded themselves inside to perform the contemplative prayer of Itikaf.
During the raid, Israeli forces threw Palestinians to the ground, bound their hands behind their backs and arrested at least 400 people. These raids come ahead of the planned mass incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers, scheduled to begin the next day. The Temple Movement groups, which advocate for the destruction of Al-Aqsa, have called for mass stormings throughout the week-long Passover holiday.
Israeli forces renewed attacks on Palestinian worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque while worshippers were still in prayer. Dozens of heavily armed officers stood at the entrance of al-Qibli prayer hall and fired tear gas and stun grenades inside. pic.twitter.com/48HMCnZJJ4
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) April 5, 2023
The situation is creating fear among Palestinians that Israel wants to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews, similar to what happened to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in the 1990s. International law stipulates that an occupying power has no sovereignty in the territory it occupies and cannot make any permanent changes there. However, Israel’s control of East Jerusalem violates this principle, including the Old City.
The Israeli government has arrested more than 1,000 Palestinians from Jerusalem this year and issued orders barring hundreds of people from entering Al-Aqsa. This comes after years of violating the delicate arrangement of the mosque and facilitating raids of the site and performing prayers and religious rituals, violating the decades-long international agreements that forbid unsolicited visits, prayers and rituals by non-Muslims at the Islamic site.
The conduct of the Israeli police at Al-Aqsa and in Jerusalem in recent days and weeks suggests that this escalation was premeditated, according to Najeh Bkeirat, the deputy director of the Islamic Waqf at Al-Aqsa Mosque. He believes that the Israeli government has made a decision this year to empty Palestinians from the mosque and Jerusalem, evidenced by the increasing number of arrests and bans on people entering Al-Aqsa.
The situation has caused tensions to soar in Jerusalem and beyond. A suspected Israeli settler opened fire at a 14-year-old boy in the Old City, while Israeli police violently dispersed protests held by Palestinian citizens of Israel in Haifa, Umm al-Fahm, the Galilee region and other cities.
Israeli commentators have warned that the atmosphere is similar to that preceding the 2021 May riots, when unrest rocked binational Jewish-Palestinian cities inside Israel amid attacks by police and mobs on Palestinians protesting the Israeli bombing of Gaza and attacks on Al-Aqsa. In the occupied West Bank, marches and confrontations with Israeli troops renewed for another night in several towns.
Israeli forces’ recent actions in Al-Aqsa Mosque are causing significant tensions and escalating the situation. The possibility of dividing the mosque between Muslims and Jews is creating fear among Palestinians, and the Israeli government’s actions suggest that this escalation was premeditated. The situation is causing unrest and protests in various cities and towns and risks triggering another bout of violence.
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