Israel Police break into Al-Aqsa Mosque and evict it with flash grenades

The Palestinian authorities denounce the attack and warn of "dangerous consequences"

The Israel Police have entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem, and have clashed with the Palestinians who were inside, using tear gas and stun grenades to evict the hundreds of people who were praying at that time.

The Muslims, who are celebrating Ramadan this month, were on Tuesday night praying in the mosque, which was full of women, children and the elderly, as well as men, according to the Palestinian outlet Maan. Around 10:00 p.m. (local time) they were placed at the doors of the mosque, preventing the faithful from entering.

A little later they entered the building, according to the Maan agency, leaving dozens injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and stun grenades, and preventing, always according to this agency, the medical treatment of those affected.

The Security Forces would have later evicted the women and children from the mosque, and then would have started the confrontation with the men, who according to Police sources, quoted by the Israeli media outlet 'Jerusalem Post', would have attacked the agents with sticks , stones and fireworks.

According to the version of the Police, collected by the aforementioned media, there would be several dozen young men entrenched in one of the rooms of the mosque since early at night, with the intention of committing violent actions. The agents would have tried to evict them peacefully before entering the building by force. They also report an agent injured during the riots.

The spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, has warned the Israeli Security Forces "not to cross red lines" at holy places, such as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, assuring that the Government will be responsible for the damage and warning that such an escalation of violence "will have dangerous consequences for everyone", according to the newspaper 'Alquds'.

For his part, the Palestinian prime minister, Mohamad Shtayé, has assured that what is happening in Jerusalem is a religious crime against the faithful, adding that praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque is not "something allowed by the occupation", but rather which is a right of Palestinian Muslims, reports the Wafa agency.

The National Movement for the Liberation of Palestine (Fatah) has also ruled on the matter, according to Wafa, it has called on the Palestinians in Jerusalem to face these attacks, assuring that "this terrorism will not serve to erase the Islamic and Arab identity of the city of Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Palestine".

The Palestinian National Council has condemned the assault, which is "an attack on the sentiments of the entire Islamic nation and a flagrant violation of international resolutions and pacts." He has also called on the UN Security Council and the rest of the international community to take action against these acts and provide protection for the Palestinian people.

The leader of the political wing of Hamas, Ismail Haniye, has warned that "what is happening in the holy mosque of Al-Aqsa is an unprecedented crime and will have consequences."

In this sense, he has insisted that everyone, including Palestinians and Israelis, must assume their responsibility for the events that are taking place these days. According to a statement collected by the newspaper 'Felesteen', Haniye would have called on Palestinians from the West Bank to go to the place to "protect" the mosque.

TENSION BETWEEN ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN FORCES DURING RAMADAN

Already on Sunday, April 26, the Police carried out a similar operation, evicting the faithful who were praying inside in the middle of Ramadan, on suspicion that they had entrenched themselves and were preparing attacks against the Jewish visitors the next morning.

At least two Palestinians were detained during the operation, as reported by the 'Jerusalem Post' citing the Israeli Police, which also accused the faithful of ignoring the directive of the Jordanian authority on the holy place, the Waqf, which had ordered its closure. night.

In response, the Palestinian Authority expressed its revulsion against the Israeli incursion and, in general terms, "the continuous Israeli provocations and attacks against the faithful, in particular in and around Al Haram al Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) during the holiest month of the year".

"The occupying power has never committed itself, as it falsely claims, to achieve calm in Jerusalem, but to deliberately provoke the Muslim faithful," the statement continued, reminding Israel that "the faithful have the right to pray in and around Al Haram al Sharif, when doing so in accordance with Islamic practices."

The holy Al-Aqsa Mosque is a hot spot in Jerusalem during the month of Ramadan. Nearly 250,000 Muslims attended the prayer on Friday, March 31, and the Israel Police has deployed 2,300 soldiers in the area during these weeks.

The Esplanade of the Mosques -or Temple Mount for the Jews- is the religious heart of East Jerusalem and rests on one of its sides on the Wailing Wall, the last vestige of the Jewish Solomon's Temple, for which Muslims They fear that Israel will seek to destroy the Al Aqsa Mosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- in order to build a Jewish Third Temple in Jerusalem.