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JERUSALEM — The noon Muslim prayers at considered one of Jerusalem’s holiest websites handed with out incident after earlier clashes between Israeli riot police and Palestinians erupted there round daybreak and left greater than 100 injured on Friday, the primary day of a uncommon convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter.
The violence capped weeks of escalating tensions in Israel and the occupied West Financial institution, and it led to fears of additional conflagrations within the coming days.
The morning clashes started at about 5:30 a.m. and lasted for greater than three hours on the web site, the Aqsa Mosque compound within the Outdated Metropolis, recognized to Jews because the Temple Mount — a posh that’s sacred to each religions. Tens of 1000’s of Muslim worshipers had been gathered there for daybreak prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting.
Palestinians threw stones on the police, who responded by firing sound grenades and rubber bullets. Not less than 117 Palestinians had been injured, based on the Palestinian Pink Crescent, and the Israeli police mentioned that a number of officers had additionally been injured.
The violence ended after a couple of hours, however many extra individuals had been anticipated to pour into the Outdated Metropolis throughout the day for the weekly Friday Prayer and to rejoice Good Friday and the primary evening of Passover, which begins at sunset.
The confrontation raised the chance of additional escalation following a current wave of Palestinian assaults on Israelis and lethal Israeli raids within the occupied West Financial institution. Tensions and violence across the identical compound performed a central position within the buildup to an 11-day conflict final Might between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Over the previous month, violence has escalated throughout Israel and the occupied territories with 5 Palestinian assaults that killed 14 individuals in Israel in an unusually lethal wave. That prompted the Israeli army to step up raids within the occupied West Financial institution which have left at the least 15 Palestinians useless. Israel mentioned that the raids had been aimed toward stopping and deterring additional assaults, however Palestinians denounced them as a collective punishment.
The Israeli police and a few Palestinian worshipers mentioned that the clashes had been began by the Palestinians, whereas different witnesses mentioned that the police had fired the primary shot.
There have been expectations for weeks that tensions would rise surrounding the uncommon convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter.
In current days, hard-line Jewish activists had mentioned that they deliberate to mark Passover by slaughtering a younger goat on high of Temple Mount, sacred to Jews as the location of an historical Jewish temple.
That might have damaged a longstanding Israeli coverage, aimed toward avoiding the provocation of Muslim sensibilities, that technically bars Jews from working towards non secular rites on the mount.
Whereas Israeli officers have grow to be more and more lenient about Jews quietly praying on the mount throughout morning visiting hours Sunday-Thursday, in current days the police have arrested a number of Jewish activists who had been suspected of planning to make the extra seen gesture of an animal sacrifice.
A Jewish man was stopped by the police on Friday morning whereas carrying a goat close to the mosque. The goat was confiscated.
Rumors had unfold on Palestinian social media that Jewish hard-liners would breach the Aqsa Mosque this weekend, resulting in requires Palestinians to defend the world.
Including to the tensions, twice prior to now week, Palestinian vandals broken a Jewish shrine within the occupied West Financial institution.
The Palestinian authorities strongly condemned the storming of the Aqsa compound by Israeli police.
“The expulsion of the worshipers by drive, repression and batons in preparation for the incursions of the Jewish extremists will ignite the fireplace of the non secular conflict for which the Palestinians alone won’t pay the worth,” the Palestinian overseas ministry mentioned in an announcement.
Yair Lapid, the Israeli overseas minister, mentioned that his nation was dedicated to freedom of worship for individuals of all faiths in Jerusalem.
“Our purpose is to allow peaceable prayer for believers throughout the Ramadan vacation,” he mentioned in an announcement. “The riots this morning on the Temple Mount are unacceptable and go towards the spirit of the religions we consider in.”
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