Clashes inside the compound of the place of worship led to the arrest of 350 people by the Israeli police. The episode raises fears of a new resurgence of tensions in the region.
Clashes in the middle of Ramadan and on the eve of Passover. Violent clashes opposed, on Tuesday April 4, the Israeli police to what they presented as “rioters”, in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. More than “350 people” were arrested. In response, several rounds of rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip and the Israeli army retaliated with airstrikes. Enough to fear a new escalation, in a particularly tense climate between Israelis and Palestinians since the beginning of the year. Here is what we know about the events.
A holy site of Islam targeted
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the most iconic Muslim places of worship in the world. It is located on the esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam, in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector of the holy city occupied and annexed by Israel. The esplanade is built on what the Jews call the Temple Mount, the holiest place in Judaism.
According to the correspondent of World in Jerusalem, from young Palestinians barricaded themselves in the mosque in the face of the threat of a provocation by a group of Messianic Jews to slaughter a lamb there to celebrate the first day of Passover.
Israeli police released a video showing explosions of what appear to be fireworks inside the mosque, with silhouettes throwing rocks. In other police footage, riot officers are seen advancing through the place of worship shielding themselves from rocket fire with shields.
“After numerous and long unsuccessful attempts to get them out through dialogue, the police forces were forced [d’intervenir] to dislodge them in order to allow the holding [des premières prières de l’aube] and prevent violent disturbances”Israeli police said in a statement.
More than 350 people arrested
After the broadcast of the images, showing in particular the police evacuating at least five people with their hands cuffed behind their backs, the Hamas movement, in power in the Gaza Strip, denounced “an unprecedented crime” and called on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank “to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa mosque to defend it”.
For his part, the Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, accused those dislodged from the mosque of having acted with a view to “to injure and assassinate police officers and injure Israeli citizens”. He praised the police for “his quick and determined action”. The latter announced on Wednesday that it had “arrested more than 350 people”.
An outbreak of violence in the wake
After the announcement of the clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque, several salvoes of rockets were fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards Israeli territory, according to AFP journalists and witnesses. Islamic Jihad, another armed group present in Gaza, claimed that the rockets were “a first warning message” After “aggression” Israeli.
The Israeli army retaliated by carrying out airstrikes against what it said was Hamas military infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, where a few dozen people had earlier protested and burned tires proclaiming: “We swear to defend and protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Condemnations from neighboring countries
Jordan, which administers Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, condemned “the storming” of the mosque and called on the Israeli forces to withdraw immediately. ISaudi Arabia for its part expressed its “categorical rejection” of actions violating “international principles and norms relating to respect for the sacred”. The clashes in the Al-Aqsa mosque, “in violation of sanctity” places, are “unacceptable”denounced the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also condemned, in a press release, “the irruption of the Israeli police inside” of the mosque and “aggression against the faithful”. “Egypt holds Israel, the occupying power, responsible for this dangerous escalation which could undermine the truce efforts”adds the text.
As for the German government, it has expressed its concern through Foreign Ministry spokesman Christofer Burger, urging all parties concerned to “do not throw more oil on the fire” and calling “all those with influence on the situation (…) to do everything to restore calm”.
A very heavy balance sheet in 2022
These clashes come as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been sucked into a spiral of violence since the beginning of the year, after the entry into office, at the end of December, of one of the most right-wing governments in the history of Israel. ‘Israel. The violence has claimed nearly 110 lives since the start of the year and resumed over the weekend after a semblance of a lull observed since the start of Ramadan on March 23.