Annisa Essack | kzn@radioislam.org.za
5 March 2023 | 10:00 CAT
4 min read

Photo Credit: PIN

Early Wednesday, Israeli police stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque, attacking worshippers and firing stun grenades at Palestinian youth who threw fireworks and stones, according to witnesses.

Israeli police said they were forced to enter the compound after “several law-breaking youths and masked agitators” brought fireworks, sticks, and stones and barricaded themselves into the mosque. Police said the youths chanted violent slogans and locked the front doors.

Videos on social media appeared to show police breaking into the mosque as fireworks were discharged. Others showed police beating people with clubs and rifles inside the mosque.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said rubber bullets used by Israeli police wounded many Palestinians, and others were beaten in the pre-dawn attacks. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that dozens of worshippers were injured in the raid.

Meanwhile, videos released by police showed the repeated explosions of fireworks inside the mosque. Outside the mosque’s gates, groups of youth were dispersed by police with stun grenades and rubber bullets.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its medics were prevented from reaching the mosque.

Palestinian groups condemned Israel’s attacks on worshippers and called it a crime. The spokesman for the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, warned the occupation “against crossing red lines at holy sites, which will lead to a big explosion.”

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said the country condemned the attacks, and this undermined peace efforts.

Jordan, the mosque’s custodian, condemned the raid “in the strongest terms”. Its Foreign Ministry warned, “of the consequences of this dangerous escalation and held Israel responsible for the safety of the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque”.

Egypt condemned the “blatant attacks” on worshippers. Its Foreign Ministry says it holds Israel, the occupying power, responsible for “this dangerous escalation which could undermine the truce efforts in which Egypt is engaged with its regional and international partners.”

Tensions have risen in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in the past year with concerns over more violence as Ramadan coincides with Judaism’s Passover and Christian Easter this month.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist with a history of violent rhetoric against the Palestinians, oversees the Israeli police force.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged over the past year, as the Israeli military has carried out near-nightly raids on Palestinian towns and Palestinians have staged numerous attacks against Israelis.

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups also called for Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel to gather at Al Aqsa Mosque and confront Israeli forces.

On Tuesday, the European Union’s top diplomat said he wanted to revive the Middle East peace efforts to stop a “vicious cycle of violence” between Israelis and Palestinians. Josep Borrell said recent developments demonstrated that a path towards peace is “urgently needed”.

He discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken his plans with partners in the Arab world to revive peace efforts which could also involve “building on the Arab Peace Initiative and adding a European peace contribution to it.

The peace initiative was adopted by the Arab League in 2002, calling on Israel to withdraw from its 1967 borders as a step towards normal relations.

Recent talks brokered by the US, Jordan, and Egypt led to an agreement for Israel to pause settlements in the West Bank.

Mr Borrell’s remarks came a day after Germany invited France, Egypt, and Jordan to four-power peace talks in Berlin.

Annalena Baerbock, the German Foreign Minister, said a meeting could build on the Aqaba talks with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Al Safadi, saying his country supported a meeting in the so-called Munich format.

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