The Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem witnessed violent clashes this evening, Friday, resulting in the injury of 13 Palestinians and 3 Israeli policemen.
The police forces dispersed hundreds of demonstrators on the Temple Mount using sound bombs and other means, according to the official Israeli Kan channel.
After about half an hour of confrontations, the Israeli police announced that they had taken control of the situation.
A video clip showed an Israeli police officer firing a stun grenade at women and children who were in the mosque’s squares.
תיעוד: שוטר זורק רימון הלם לעבר מפגינים בכניסה להר הבית@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/dlvFEqAo1o
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2021
The Palestinians say that the clashes erupted when the Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Israeli police said that they rushed to the site after “riots,” according to the Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Aharonot.
המהומות בהר הבית: השוטרים מפזרים את המתפרעים@guy_telaviv pic.twitter.com/P73Oyz0bne
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2021
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the clashes resulted in the injury of 13 Palestinians with various injuries, while the police said that 3 of its members were injured during the events.
מהומות בהר הבית: המשטרה מפזרת מתפרעים שמיידים אבנים לעבר השוטרים@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/9JBCCgV1xK
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2021
The official Palestinian News Agency (WAFA) said: “Large forces of the Israeli occupation police stormed the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and fired rubber-coated metal bullets, sound bombs, and tear gas at the worshipers, wounding 13 civilians, with injuries concentrated in the head and eyes, and arrested Others. ”
המהומות בהר הבית: מתפרעים מיידים אבנים ובקבוקים לעבר השוטרים@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/MtFDYN3bIX
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2021
The clashes erupted after a collective breakfast organized inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in solidarity with the people of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, who are threatened with expulsion from their homes in favor of the settlement associations.
Israeli courts issued decisions to evacuate homes in the neighborhood that were built by Palestinians in 1956, based on allegations by Israeli settlement associations that the homes were built on land that was owned by Jews before 1948.
On Thursday, the Israeli Supreme Court postponed issuing a final decision on the evacuation of 4 Palestinian families from the neighborhood until next Monday.