Al Aqsa hit by third day of Israeli raids

Palestinian protesters fear Israel is seeking to change rules governing entry to the holy site.

Palestinian paramedics carry a woman after Israeli security forces fired tear gas and pepper spray in a street of the Muslim quarter in Jerusalem's Old City during scuffles with Israeli riot police onShow more

JERUSALEM // Israeli security forces have stormed Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem for a third consecutive day, in defiance of international calls for them to stop.

Police forced their way into the mosque compound and fired stun grenades at young Palestinians protesting at attempts by hardline Jewish extremists to gain access.

Waqf, the Jordanian organisation that oversees the compound, said that despite police denials, security forces entered deep inside the mosque and caused damage.

Waqf spokesman Firas Al Dibs said “police stormed Al Aqsa Mosque and went inside” as far as the minbar. He said police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades, igniting fires.

There were at least four arrests, while clashes also broke out in the Old City surrounding the compound.

Yesterday’s clashes in the Old City were more intense than those of previous two days.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 26 people were injured, of whom two were taken to hospital. Israeli police said five officers suffered minor injuries.

Limited visits to the site were later allowed to go ahead.

Protesters retaliated to the police invasion by throwing stones and shouting: “We will never give up because Mohammed is our leader.”

The new flare-up came despite calls for restraint from the United Nations and the United States. The White House said last night it was deeply concerned by the clashes, and strongly condemned all acts of violence at the sacred site.

Jordan, which has custodianship rights over Islamic holy places in Jerusalem under its 1994 peace treaty with Israel, said relations were at risk.

The protesters fear that Israel is seeking to change rules governing the site, which allow Jews to visit but not to pray.

“The real owners of Al Aqsa are kept outside while the thieves are inside,” said a 42-year-old Arab woman who had come from Nazareth to protest. She said she feared Israel was aiming to allow Jewish worship at the compound.

The three days of clashes have come as Jews celebrated their new year, or Rosh Hashanah, which began on Sunday evening and ended last evening.

A drive by far-right Jewish groups for greater access to the mosque compound and a fringe campaign to erect a new temple have fuelled suspicions among Palestinians.

Protesters have also been angered by Israeli defence minister Moshe Yaalon’s decision last week to outlaw two Muslim groups who protect the compound from right-wing Jewish religious extremists.

Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 war and later illegally annexed it.

Mr Netanyahu held an emergency meeting of his security cabinet yesterday to discuss further toughening of the already draconian law on stone-throwing.

Police claimed on Monday that stone-throwing might have caused a car accident, which killed an Israeli motorist near a Palestinian neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

In July the Israeli parliament approved a law authorising 20-year prison sentences for anyone convicted of throwing stones at a moving vehicle.

Palestinian activists described the law as racist and oppressive, and pointed out that Palestinian protesters are often shot dead with no consequences.

* Agence France-Presse