JERUSALEM — Israeli police stopped Muslim worshippers from getting into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for 4 hours Sunday morning to forestall contact between Muslims and Jews on the web site. The transfer led to transient clashes in close by facet streets, two days after a extra intense bout of violence erupted on the holy advanced.
Not less than 18 Palestinians have been arrested, a few of them for throwing stones at passing buses and for punching and kicking Jews in a close-by alley, in line with police. Not less than 17 Palestinians have been injured, 5 of them by rubber-tipped bullets fired by police, in line with the Palestinian Pink Crescent, an emergency medical group.
The developments compounded the tensions in Jerusalem, which have risen sharply in current weeks after an unusually lethal wave of Arab assaults in Israel killed 14 individuals and after an ensuing Israeli crackdown within the occupied West Financial institution killed not less than 15.
Tensions are anticipated to rise additional within the coming days due to the uncommon convergence between Ramadan and Passover, which started Friday and is driving extra followers of each Islam and Judaism to the Al-Aqsa compound, which is thought to Jews as Temple Mount.
The violence Sunday started after police, searching for to forestall contact between Muslims and Jews who have been about to enter the compound throughout common weekday visiting hours, confined Muslims who have been already inside it to small components of the positioning.
Earlier, Palestinians had gathered close to the doorway utilized by non-Muslims to enter the positioning, blocking a part of the route that's often utilized by Jews to discreetly pray close to the placement of an historic Jewish temple thought-about the holiest place in Judaism.
Police struck some Palestinians with batons and denied entry to Muslims who have been nonetheless exterior the positioning.
Different Palestinians locked themselves within the largest mosque within the compound, as police patrolled exterior. That standoff ended late within the morning, after police started letting some Muslims into the compound and withdrew to permit the Palestinians inside the mosque to go away. They emerged cheering, some setting off fireworks and one carrying a inexperienced flag related to Hamas, the Islamist militant group that runs the Gaza Strip.
Each Israel and Hamas have signaled that they aren't searching for an escalation.
However Islamic Jihad, one other militant group in Gaza, stated Sunday that current tensions on the mosque would result in an “all-out confrontation.”
This text initially appeared in The New York Instances.