Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian woman during clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police after authorities limited access for Muslim worshipers to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the old city of Jerusalem and attacked Palestinian worshippers at the site, on July 26, 2015. (AFP Photo/Ahmad Gharbali)
Tel Aviv, Asharq Al-Awsat—Israeli police attacked dozens of Palestinian worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday, after clashes broke out when police blocked access to the site to escort a group of ultranationalist right-wing Israelis to the compound.
Police used rubber-coated bullets and rods to attack worshippers, also spraying them with teargas and pepper spray, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported. Around 30 Palestinians were injured following the clashes, in addition to 19 Al-Aqsa Mosque guards. Twenty Palestinians were arrested by Israeli police by the end of the day, among them two women and three children.
The violence erupted after Israeli police escorted ultranationalist right-wing Israeli politician Uri Ariel, who is also Israel’s agriculture minister, and a group of Israelis—around 850, according to the Al-Aqsa Religious Endowments Authority—to the compound. All entry points to the mosque for Palestinians were blocked by police from 6:30 am onwards, witnesses said.
Ariel and the Israeli group were visiting the compound to mark the Tisha B’av, which commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples of Jerusalem, which Jews believe were located at the compound.
Visits by Israeli officials to the site, which holds the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest shrine, have often resulted in clashes and violence, with police attacking worshippers and repeatedly blocking access to the site for Palestinians.
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the High Islamic Authority in Jerusalem, said the latest incident was “unprecedented” and marked an attempt by Israeli authorities to make the Israeli presence at the compound “a commonplace occurrence.”
An official statement from Jordan, the custodian of the compound, said on Sunday that “repeated Israeli violations of the sanctity of the holy site are a provocation against the feelings of Arabs and Muslims . . . designed to ignite further hostility,” according to AFP.
There are rising calls within Israel from right-wing nationalists to open up the compound for Jews to enter in order to conduct prayers. An agreement between the Al-Aqsa Religious Endowments Authority and Israel in place since Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967 stipulates that Jews are only allowed to pray at the Western Wall of the compound.