Published:
September 15, 2015 at 3:52 p.m. with By Laurent Lozano
Palestinians and Israeli police have again clashed Tuesday on and around the Aqsa in Jerusalem Mosques on the third and last day of the Jewish New Year, despite international appeals for calm.
As for Sunday start of the celebration of the Jewish New Year, police clashed with masked men entrenched in the Al-Aqsa mosque to protest against Jewish visits to the Esplanade.
Since Sunday, confrontations broke out when the police come to the site to dislodge them before the opening 7:30 of visits to non-Muslim tourists and Jews.
Hundreds of police took up positions on the esplanade and responded to stone throwing by firing stun grenades.
Twenty-six Palestinians were wounded and two of them hospitalized, according to the Red Crescent. Five policemen were injured according to police. Four people were arrested.
“The police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque”, going to the heart of the sanctuary before exiting, said Firas al-Dibs, spokesman Waqf, the organization dependent on Jordan which manages the third holiest site in Islam.
As each time it is charged to enter Al-Aqsa, a serious offense in the eyes of Muslims, Israeli police assured not to enter and have that unlock the barricades that prevented the closing of the doors of the mosque
-. ‘owners, thieves’ –
Overlooking East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of Jerusalem occupied and annexed by Israel, the plaza is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The Jews regard it as the Temple Mount, the the place where stood the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans, whose only remnant, the Wailing Wall, is below.
Jewish radicals fighting for the right to pray and dream of some ‘build the Third Temple.
The visit since Sunday over a thousand of tourists and Jews during the Jewish holiday has heightened fears of Palestinians and Muslim authorities that Israel imposes a de facto division the holy place. morning for Jews, the rest for Muslims
The violence also extended to the narrow alleys of the Old Town, shaken by repeated charges of the police throwing stun grenades on Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli Arabs. Between two attacks of tension, under heavy escort Jews and confused tourist groups come under the jeers.
Umm Omar, 42, came to Nazareth, the largest Arab town in northern Israel to “defend Al-Aqsa.” “The real Al-Aqsa owners are out and the thieves are inside,” she began.
“The Israelis want to divide the plaza but they will not succeed “said one Palestinian demonstrators, Touffaha Khaled, a shopkeeper 46 years. Like all Muslims, “myself, my children and my grandchildren are ready to shed our blood for Al-Aqsa,” he assured between two detonations
-. Netanyahu defender status quo –
The Palestinian leadership met in Ramallah in the West Bank called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, condemning “Israeli attempts to impose a geographic and temporal division Al-Aqsa, “a plan” terrorist “who” will be accepted under any circumstances. “
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to meet in the evening ministers and security officials, has always defended wanting to touch the “status quo,” the unspoken rules that direct the site since 1967.
They allow Muslims to hop when they want and Jews to come there at certain hours, but not to pray.
King Abdullah II of Jordan warned Israel of the risk to relations with his country, one of only two Arab states that have signed peace with the Jewish state. Amman recalled its ambassador to Israel after similar clashes in November.
Abdullah II spoke by phone Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about the “continuous Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa,” according the Palestinian Wafa agency.
The violence has caused concern and calls for restraint from the United States, the UN and the European Union, which held that ” the escalation of violence was (…) an incitement to hatred. “
Iran has called for an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), while for France, “these events highlight the need to revive the peace talks” Israel-Palestine.
The Islamist Palestinian Hamas from Gaza denounced “a declaration of war” from Israel, warning against ” a total explosion “. Islamic Jihad accused Israel of crossing the “red lines”.
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