Clashes erupt as Israel police storm Al-Aqsa mosque
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli police stormed and tortured Palestinians inside Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, sparking an exchange of rockets and air strikes, in flaring violence as the Jewish Passover overlaps with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Armed police in riot gear stormed the mosque's prayer hall before dawn, with the goal of dislodging 'law-breaking youths and masked agitators' who had barricaded themselves inside following evening prayers.
The officers were met with a barrage of rocks and fireworks, police video showed. More than 350 arrests were made in the raid, which drew threats from Palestinian groups and wide condemnation from Muslim countries.
One witness, Abdel Karim Ikraiem, 74, charged that police, armed with batons, tear gas grenades and smoke bombs, burst into the mosque 'by force' and 'beat the women and men' worshipping there.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called on West Bank Palestinians 'to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa mosque to defend it'.
Rockets were fired overnight from Gaza into Israel, without causing casualties, prompting retaliatory Israeli air strikes.
It has been a frequent flashpoint, particularly during Ramadan, and clashes there in May 2021 set off the latest Gaza war that raged for 11 days. On Gaza's streets overnight, protesters burnt tyres and chanted: "We swear to defend and protect the Al-Aqsa mosque."
'Intensifying violence'
Palestinian civil affairs minister Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the Israeli police action inside Al-Aqsa, saying 'the level of brutality requires urgent Palestinian, Arab and international action'.
Jordan, which administers the mosque, condemned its 'storming', and called on Israeli forces to leave the compound immediately.
Saudi Arabia expressed its 'categorical rejection' of actions that contradict "international principles and norms in respect of religious sanctities".
Egypt, which has frequently mediated in the conflict, said it "holds Israel, the occupying power, responsible for this dangerous escalation which could undermine the truce efforts in which Egypt is engaged with its regional and international partners".
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has descended into intensifying violence since the most right-wing government in Israel's history took office in late December under veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
So far this year, it has claimed the lives of at least 91 Palestinians, 15 Israelis and one Ukrainian, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides. On the Palestinian side, the figures include combatants as well as civilians. On the Israeli side, they include two members of the Arab minority.
