Israeli police raid al-Aqsa Mosque; 37 people injured, Palestinians say

Israeli police, who control access to the site in Jerusalem’s Old City and routinely clear its plaza after nightly prayers, said they carried out the raid after a group of worshipers locked themselves inside.

Why an Israeli raid on al-Aqsa Mosque is stoking tensions

As officers forced their way into one of the mosque’s two main prayer halls, worshipers threw stones and firecrackers at them, police said. At least 350 people were arrested and two officers were injured, the police statement said.

The night of violence at the al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, adds fuel to an already combustible situation. Israel has been rocked by months of political instability over a contentious government plan to weaken the Supreme Court, and violence is surging across the occupied Palestinian territories. This year, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with the Jewish Passover holiday, a situation that Israeli security officials have long warned could lead to further escalation.

Videos shared on Twitter, including from the Palestinian diplomatic mission to Britain, show fireworks going off inside the mosque and police beating people with batons. The Washington Post confirmed that the videos were taken inside the mosque and that they weren’t published before Tuesday.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said one of its ambulances was hit by a stun grenade, and the driver pushed and beaten, while rubber bullets were fired at a second vehicle.

As videos from the raid flew across social media early Wednesday, at least nine rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli airspace, the Israeli army said. At least five were intercepted by the country’s air defense system and four others landed in open space, the army said, adding that no injuries were reported.

The Israel Defense Forces said it carried out two airstrikes on Gaza in response, hitting what it described as weapons-manufacturing sites belonging to Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that rules the territory.

“The IDF is on high alert in all areas. If Gaza attacks, the IDF will respond strongly,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesperson, said in a statement. “We are not interested in an escalation, but we are ready for any scenario.”

A Hamas official criticized the raid as a “serious crime to which the Palestinian people and resistance will respond.”

Overnight clashes were also reported between Israeli security forces and Palestinian civilians in the West Bank town of Beit Ummar. Israel’s Hagari said a soldier from the Givati Brigade was receiving medical attention for his injuries.

By late Wednesday morning, all appeared calm at the al-Aqsa compound and across the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was committed to maintaining the status quo at the site and guaranteeing freedom of worship for all faiths.

But on Wednesday night, Israeli police raided the compound again, using stun grenades, rubber bullets and batons to disperse thousands of worshipers who had gathered in the courtyard for Ramadan prayers. At least six Palestinians were injured, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

“We remain extremely concerned by the continuing violence,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday, adding that “we urge all sides to avoid further escalation.”

The Holy Esplanade is a potent symbol of religious and political identity for both Israelis and Palestinians, and its status is among the most intractable obstacles to resolving the decades-old conflict here.

In Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is the site where the First and Second Temples once stood. For Muslims, it known as the Noble Sanctuary, the place where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.

The site has been managed by a Jordanian religious authority, the Waqf, since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967. As part of an informal agreement between the two nations, Muslims pray atop the esplanade at al-Aqsa and the golden Dome of the Rock, while Jews pray at the Western Wall.

But the delicate status quo has been tested by an increase in Jewish prayer on the esplanade in recent years. And messianic Jewish activists have long aspired to slaughter a lamb atop the Temple Mount during Passover, a ritual they believe would bring them closer to their ultimate goal of rebuilding a temple on the plateau. Israeli police have warned that it could spark a regional war. But the police now report to Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s new national security minister, who got his political start in the same radical settler movement.

In spring 2021, fighting between Israeli police and Palestinians at the compound — and similar Israeli police incursions into al-Aqsa itself — spiraled into a two-week war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. More than 250 Palestinians and more than a dozen Israelis were killed in the conflict.

A timeline of recent escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians

Violence has escalated again in recent months as Israel’s far-right government carries out near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank in an effort to ramp up pressure on Palestinian militants. On Saturday, Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian man at the entrance of the al-Aqsa compound. Israeli authorities say he had tried to grab an officer’s firearm, while his family said he was trying to protect a female worshiper from being assaulted by Israeli police.

More than 80 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2023. At least 14 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians over the same period, including seven in a shooting outside a Jerusalem synagogue in January.

Masih reported from Seoul and Berger from Washington.