for both Muslims and Jews.
The confrontation at the al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem began just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year.
Israeli
police said they received intelligence on the eve of Rosh Hashanah that
masked demonstrators were barricading themselves inside the mosque,
while erecting barriers outside to prevent anyone from entering.
Israeli
officers said that "rioters" hurled rocks and fireworks at them in an
attempt to keep them at bay, but the confrontation spilled from inside
out onto the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem, where it went on for
hours.
The Palestinian news agency
Ma'an told a different story reporting that Israeli forces "stormed the
Al-Aqsa Mosque compound shortly after dawn prayer, firing rubber-coated
steel bullets and stun grenades, leading to the injury of several
worshipers."
Increased tension
The
al-Aqsa complex is one of the holiest sites in the world for Muslims,
who call it al-Haram al-Sharif, which means the Noble Sanctuary.
But
it is also the holiest site in the world for Jews, who call it the
Temple Mount, and many Muslims see Jewish prayers in the complex as a
provocation.
It is one of the greatest
sources of tension in the Old City of Jerusalem, but according to Ma'an,
those tensions have been running even higher this week "in the wake of
Israel's decision to outlaw two Muslim groups that seek to "protect" the
compound against groups of Jewish worshipers."
'Rethink arrangements'
Responses to Sunday's incident from officials on both sides reflect the disparateness and tension surrounding the holy site.
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the police action and "the
aggression of the Israeli storming of al-Aqsa this morning, with troops
and occupation police," according to Haaretz.
"It
is a duty and a right to take action against lawbreakers to allow
freedom of worship in this holy place," countered Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. "We will act firmly against stone-throwers, Molotov
cocktails, and pipe bomb throwers or those who use any other means."
Israeli
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said it "requires all of us to
think about the arrangements that are in place there."
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