Al-Aqsa Raids:
- On April 4, Israeli police raided Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, injuring 37 worshippers and arresting over 350.
- Video footage of the raid shows police and riot-control forces firing stun grenades and severely beating worshippers with batons and rifles.
- Israeli police claim that the raids were prompted by "masked agitators" who barricaded themselves inside the mosque with fireworks and stones in order to attack Jews visiting the compound.
- However, others have accused Israeli forces of raiding the mosque to assert Israeli sovereignty over the site and assault worshippers during Ramadan.
- Over 2,000 Jewish visitors entered the compound on April 9 and 10 for Passover, fueling tensions further.
- While these visits were permitted by compound authorities, the Jerusalem Governorate and the Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem have labeled the visits as "storming Al-Aqsa" and accused Jewish visitors of attempting to "Judaize" the compound.
Military and Political Response:
- Following the raids, 16 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel on April 5 and 6, hitting one building in the city of Sderot but causing no injuries.
- Shortly after, Israel attacked several Hamas facilities in Gaza.
- After an April 7 meeting in Beirut, Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh denounced Israeli “aggression” and called on “all Palestinian organizations to unify their ranks and intensify their resistance against the Zionist occupation.”
- Similarly, Palestinian Authority spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that Israeli attacks on the compound during Ramadan could turn the site into a “battlefield.”
- Israel’s neighbors immediately condemned the raids, with Jordan threatening “catastrophic consequences” for further incursions and Egypt labeling the raid as a “repeat terrorist act.”
Background:
- The Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem houses both Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, and the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
- Since the 1967 Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem, the compound has been governed by a “status quo” agreement between Israel and the Jordanian Islamic Waqf.
- According to the agreement, the Waqf controls entrance to the mosque itself while Israel manages the perimeter of the site.
- Prior to the raids, Hamas called on Ramadan worshippers to defend the compound against Jewish visitors planning a traditional lamb sacrifice for Passover.
- The Temple Mount Administration, a far-right Jewish organization, has advocated for the sacrifice to assert Jewish prayer rights within the compound, handing out flyers “promising a financial reward for those arrested” while attempting the sacrifice.
- While the sacrifice is mandated by the Torah, most Jewish groups have not engaged in the practice since ancient times.
- Despite the site’s holy status in Judaism, Jewish prayer is prohibited at the compound by both Israeli law and the Chief Rabbinate to avoid disrupting the delicate status quo.
Raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque