Jerusalem on Edge Following Renewed Clashes on Temple Mount

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli police scuffled with Palestinians on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday, as tensions remained high at the flashpoint holy site and across the city.

Israeli police said they entered the Al Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount after hundreds of young Palestinians – many of them wearing masks – began storing rocks and iron barricades to be used to prevent non-Muslims from entering the holy site. The Palestinian Red Crescent, a humanitarian group, said it treated 17 people for injuries during clashes with police.

Jewish visitors were later seen touring the Temple Mount.

Israeli police accused Palestinians of “defiling and desecrating” a holy site and said, “freedom of worship will continue to be fully preserved for the worshipers on the Temple Mount.” Palestinians accused Israeli police of using excessive force and trying to divide the holy site.

“What happened in Al-Aqsa Mosque is a dangerous escalation, the repercussions of which are to be borne by the Israeli government alone,” said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In a separate incident Sunday morning, Israeli police said Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli buses that were headed for the Western Wall, lightly injuring seven people.

Statement by @israelpolice: Police received a report of stone-throwing at buses traveling near the Old City of Jerusalem. As a result of the stone-throwing, several buses were damaged and a number of passengers were lightly injured and are now receiving medical treatment. pic.twitter.com/gJzQL9vYZb

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) April 17, 2022

Israeli police said they arrested a total of nine people in connection to both incidents.

Tensions have been high in Jerusalem, especially as holidays for the three major religions overlapped for the first time in three decades. Muslims are observing the fasting month of Ramadan, Jews are observing Passover, and Christians are observing Easter.

On Friday, major clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian rioters on the Temple Mount wounded 158 Palestinians and 3 officers. Police said in a statement that around 4 a.m., dozens of young people began marching in the area. Some carried the green banners of the Hamas terror group and the Palestinian flag while other rioters threw stones at the Western Wall below. The clashes drew rare condemnation of Israeli police from Bahrain, Morocco, and United Arab Emirates, which all recently normalized ties with Israel.

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The Temple Mount is the emotional epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Two Jewish temples once stood there, and it is also the third holiest site in Islam. Non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site but to preserve the fragile status quo there, they are not allowed to pray or perform religious rituals. However, unorganized Jewish prayer has recently returned to the site amid a surge in Jewish visitation.

Last year, efforts by Israeli police to stop persistent rioting on the Temple Mount helped trigger an 11-day war with Gaza that began after Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem.

The leaders of Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday called for Palestinians to mobilize against Israel and defend Al Aqsa Mosque.

“We are declaring a general mobilization in all places where our people are located. We are calling on the masses to come out in the hundreds of thousands to protect our nation and our mosque,” the Gaza groups said in a statement after meeting with Hamas leader Yehiyeh Sinwar.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said members of all faiths should be allowed to worship in peace and vowed to clamp down on rioting and terrorism.

“We are working to calm things down on the one hand and are taking vigorous action against violent individuals on the other. The security forces are ready for any scenario,” he said.

The riots on the Temple Mount and the police response also prompted Mansour Abbas, the leader of the Ra'am party to "freeze" his participation in Bennett's coalition government. Abbas is part of the Islamic Movement in Israel and his decision is one more blow to the coalition after a member of Bennett's party Yamina left the government recently to put Israel's parliament in a 60-60 tie.