57 injured after Palestinians conflict with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy website

At least 57 Palestinians had been injured in clashes with Israeli police throughout the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday, medics mentioned, as violence persevered in the course of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a website additionally revered by Jews.

In what could presage wider battle, Israel mentioned two rockets had been fired from Gaza, one falling brief and one other putting throughout the border with out harm. It was the third such incident this week, breaking months of relative calm on the Gazan entrance.

Al-Aqsa sits atop the Old City plateau of East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in a 1967 conflict and annexed in a transfer that has not acquired worldwide recognition. Palestinians need East Jerusalem because the capital of their hoped-for future state.

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Palestinians accuse Israel of limiting Muslim worship at Al-Aqsa – the third-holiest website in Islam – whereas not doing sufficient to implement a long-standing ban on Jewish prayer on the compound. Israel denies this.

Israeli police mentioned they intervened when tons of of individuals hurled rocks and fireworks and drew near the Western Wall, the place Jewish worship was underway. A policewoman was injured by a stone and a tree was set alight by the fireworks, police mentioned.

Reuters witnesses mentioned police entered the compound after the morning Ramadan prayers and fired rubber-tipped bullets and stun grenades at a crowd, a few of whom had been throwing rocks. Police additionally used a drone to drop tear fuel.

The surge of violence in Jerusalem has raised fears of a repeat of final yr’s conflict between Israel and the Hamas Islamists ruling Gaza.

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Hamas fighters “have their fingers on the rifle triggers, and we will defend Al-Aqsa mosque with all our might”, Hamas official Mushir al-Masri informed a rally in northern Gaza.

No Palestinian faction claimed Friday’s rocket salvo.

Since March 22, Arab assailants have killed 14 folks in Israel, together with three law enforcement officials, and Israeli forces have killed a minimum of 14 Palestinians, amongst them gunmen and civilians, within the occupied West Bank, medics mentioned.

Ramadan coincides with the Jewish celebration of Passover this yr. That has introduced extra Muslim and Jewish guests to the compound, which is a vestige of two historic Jewish temples.

As in earlier years, Israel halted Jewish visits in the course of the ultimate days of Ramadan, as of Friday, an Israeli official mentioned.