ISRAEL CRACKS DOWN ON PALESTINIAN WORSHIPERS AT THE AL-AQSA MOSQUE

Al-Quds (Jerusalem), 27 Rabiul Akhir 1434/9 March 2013 (MINA) – Israeli Occupation forces on Friday fired tear gas and stun grenades at hundreds of worshippers at Jerusalem’s Aqsa mosque, injuring some, activists said, while a funeral procession in the West Bank was also attacked by the Israeli army.

Israeli soldiers went into the yard of the mosque and attempted to disperse the crowd after Friday prayers and the crowd did not want to let the Israeli soldiers into the yard of Al Masjid Al Aqsa, said eye witnesses.

Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and threw tear gas bombs at the crowd. Israeli soldiers assaulted the women who threw the items at them.

The clash is said to have been continuing, according to the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) report received by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Saturday.

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More than 75 casualties have been recorded among Palestinian worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque following the Friday Prayers today with one seriously wounded as Israel opens live fire against Palestinians in northern Gaza.

Paramedics affirmed that more than 75 Palestinian worshipers received first aid treatment inside the yard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque following clashes which erupted when Israeli soldiers broke into the Mosque during the Friday Prayers.

An elderly gentleman named Abu-Kamel who is a guards at the al-Aqsa Mosque, along with another 14 worshipers were injured after having been beaten with batons by the Israeli soldiers.

Mohamed al-Gharableh, the head of the Palestinian Association of Paramedics, said that the Israeli soldiers kept the wounded under siege inside the Mosque for a long time. He also said that the soldiers began shooting tear gas canisters before the Friday Prayers ended.

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The Palestinian worshiper were prepared to begin demonstrations after the Prayer in protest at Israeli attacks on students of the Sharia schools inside the al-Aqsa Mosque last week.

Israeli forces responded with riot dispersal means, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Ma’an, and the area is now calm, although there is a heavy police presence in the vicinity.

Six Israeli police officers were injured by rocks.

Local sources told Ma’an that seven people were shot in the head with rubber bullets and two women assaulted by Israeli forces.

Human rights activist Muhammad Qarain told Ma’an that two journalists, Ata Oweisat and Mahfouth al-Turk, were wounded in the clashes.

A number of medics were also wounded while treating people in the area, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society said, and paramedic Obada Qawasmeh was arrested by Israeli forces.

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The compound, containing the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is the third holiest site in Islam and abuts the site where Jews believe the ancient Second Temple stood, attracting the far-right to pose the rebuilding of the Jewish site on the sanctuary.

Thousands took to the streets in protest in several cities across the West Bank.

The protests began after the funeral of the Palestinian youth, Hassan Asfour, who died yesterday from injuries sustained during last week’s protests at Israeli violations against Palestinian prisoners.

Meanwhile, witnesses said that Israeli tanks shot a Palestinian youth, who is yet to be identified, in the chest. The spokesman of the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qedra, confirmed the news. (T/P02/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)