ISRAELI FORCES STORM AL-AQSA MOSQUE, ASSAULT WORSHIPPERS
Al-Quds, 27 Dhulqa’dah 1436/11 September 2015 (MINA) –Israeli police clashed with Palestinians at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Sunday just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year, police and witnesses said.
The clashes came with tensions running high after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon last week outlawed two Muslim groups that protect the mosque, and confront Jewish visitors to the compound, which is holy to both faiths.
Witnesses told Ma’an that Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Sunday morning, firing rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades and injuring several worshipers.Witnesses said Israeli forces stormed the compound through the Chain and Moroccan gates shortly after dawn prayer, Maan News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
The forces then surrounded worshipers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque and closed its doors with “chains and bars” before they started to fire rubber-coated bullets inside the mosque, witnesses said.
According to police, the rioters had barricaded themselves in the mosque overnight with the aim of disrupting visits by Jews to the site ahead of the start of New Year celebrations on Sunday evening.
Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told Ma’an that Israeli forces entered the compound at 6:30 a.m. to deal with “disturbances” inside the compound, after which “Palestinians threw fire and fireworks” at the forces, who then closed off the main gates of the mosque.
Israeli forces allegedly found “a number of pipe bombs” at the compound during the raid, which Rosenfeld said he believes would have been used when visitors entered the area later that morning.The compound opened for visitors as scheduled at 8 a.m..Israeli forces said no arrests were made and no injuries were reported, however Palestinians witnesses reported several injuries.
An AFP journalist saw a number of people being detained and heavy police deployments in the Old City.A Palestinian boy identified as Anas Siyam was evacuated to the hospital after he was hit with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the chest.His condition is unknown.
Witnesses added that Israeli soldiers also assaulted employees of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowment, including the the director of the compound Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani.Prior to the attacks, Israeli forces denied all women and young men entry into the compound. Only a small number of men above 50 were allowed to enter the holy site.
Meanwhile, dozens of young men entered the compound on Saturday evening and spent the night inside.Later that morning, Israeli minister of agriculture Uri Ariel entered the compound via the Moroccan gate, heavily escorted by Israeli forces.More than 30 right-wing Israelis also toured the compound, witnesses said.
Following the incident, a spokesman for the Fatah movement in Jerusalem, Raafat Ulayyan, urged Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel to “hurry to defend” the holy Muslim site from which “our prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.” (T/P002/R04)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
