LAST UPDATE: 12:05
More than 150 people have been injured in clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police this morning in Jerusalem’s Temple Square.
In particular, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, at least 152 Palestinians were injured by rubber bullets, stun grenades and police beatings.
For its part, Israeli police said at least three of its members had been injured.
Violent incidents erupted on Temple Mount – as Mosque Square is called in Judaism tradition – near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, after morning prayers.
Israeli police said hundreds of Palestinians had begun throwing stones and flares at the mosque and that its forces had entered the mosque “to disperse and repel (the crowd) and allow other worshipers to leave safely.”
According to a postman who made a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet on Twitter, the police arrested hundreds of Palestinians.
“We are working to restore calm, on Mount Temple and throughout Israel. At the same time, we are preparing for any scenario and the security forces are ready for any task,” he added.
For its part, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it “considers Israel fully and solely responsible for this crime and its consequences.”
“The international community needs to intervene immediately to stop the Israeli attack on the mosque and to get things out of hand,” said a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the West Bank.
At the same time, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, said that Israel “bears responsibility for the consequences.”
Mosque Square is located in the Old City of East Jerusalem, the Palestinian sector occupied by Israel since the Six Day War in 1967. The sector is often the scene of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters.
Tens of thousands of Muslims are expected today in the Old City of Jerusalem to pray in the Temple Square.
Easter also begins today, with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism expecting a total of 30,000 foreign tourists in Jerusalem this week alone.
In addition, despite the tension following a series of deadly attacks in Israel, thousands of Christians are expected to follow today, Good Friday for Catholics, the “way of the cross” in Jerusalem, the way Christ took the cross.
A strong police presence is expected in Jerusalem, and especially in the old city.
Source: Capital
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