Israeli police arrested more than 350 people early Wednesday after clashes at Jerusalem\u2019s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque, a police spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
In a statement, police said they had \u201carrested and removed over 350 individuals that violently barricaded\u201d themselves inside the mosque in the Old City of annexed east Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Those arrested included \u201cmasked individuals, stone and firework hurlers\/throwers, and individuals suspected of desecrating the mosque,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
Israeli police attacked dozens of worshippers in the mosque\u2019s compound before dawn in the wee hours of the day in what Israeli police said was a response to rioting.<\/p>\n
The incident sparked protests across the occupied West Bank and the Israeli military claimed nine rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel after sirens blared in southern towns.<\/p>\n
Violence in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem has surged over the past year and there is concern that tensions could escalate this month, as the Muslim holy month of Ramazan coincides with Judaism\u2019s Passover and Christian Easter.<\/p>\n
The Palestinian Red Crescent said seven Palestinians sustained wounds from rubber-tipped bullets and beatings in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. It added that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching the mosque.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sitting on a chair reciting (Quran),\u201d an elderly woman told Reuters outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. \u201cThey hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest,\u201d she said as she began to cry.<\/p>\n
People clean inside the Al-Aqsa compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, while tension arises as Israeli forces clash with Palestinians in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City on Wednesday (April). \u2014 Reuters
\nIsraeli police said in a statement that it was forced to enter the compound after masked agitators locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the police entered, stones were thrown at them and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,\u201d the statement said, adding that a police officer was wounded in the leg.<\/p>\n
Friction at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, has set off violence in recent years.<\/p>\n
Palestinian groups condemned Israel\u2019s attacks on worshippers, which they described as a crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe warn the occupation against crossing red lines at holy sites, which will lead to a big explosion,\u201d said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.<\/p>\n
Jordan and Egypt, both involved in recent US-backed efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, issued separate statements condemning the incident.<\/p>\n
Videos circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed fireworks going off and police beating people inside the mosque.<\/p>\n
The Israeli military said nine rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel, of which at least four were intercepted and four landed in open areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli police arrested more than 350 people early Wednesday after clashes at Jerusalem\u2019s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque, a police spokesperson said. In a statement, police said they had \u201carrested and removed over 350 individuals that violently barricaded\u201d themselves inside the mosque in the Old City of annexed east Jerusalem. Those arrested included \u201cmasked individuals, stone and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-323984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n