Jerusalem, Apr 05: Clashes were reported inside Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem after Israeli troops stormed the holy site in a pre-dawn operation on Wednesday, reported Reuters. Videos on social media purportedly showed Israeli police officers beating Palestinians with batons and rifle butts at the mosque in the contested hilltop site revered by both Muslims and Jews.

 

 

 

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that seven people were injured in the violence, in response to which Gaza fired nine rockets at Israel, according to Israeli military officials. Israeli police said in a statement that it was forced to enter the compound, where worshippers were offering prayers, after “masked agitators” locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks, and stones. One police officer was wounded in the leg during the confrontation.

 

 

 

“When the police entered, stones were thrown at them and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,” the statement said, as reported by the Guardian. Palestinian groups condemned Israel's attacks on worshippers, which they described as a crime. The spokesperson of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, warned Israel that such a move “exceeds all red lines and will lead to a large explosion.” Friction at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, has set off violence in recent years.

 

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Fears of further violence were fueled by the convergence of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover. Earlier on Tuesday, a Palestinian suspect stabbed two Israelis near an army base south of Tel Aviv, police said, in the latest incident in a yearlong spate of violence that shows no sign of abating.