Israeli security forces scuffled with Muslim worshippers outside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque on Tuesday (April 26), after removing Jewish worshippers who violated visitation rules from the volatile site.
In a video obtained by Reuters, Israeli security could be seen pushing a small crowd of Muslim worshippers who were angry at the violation and by the presence of the Jewish visitors at the site.
Israeli media reported that the tension began when Jewish visitors laid on the ground in what seemed as an attempt to pray, which is forbidden for Jews visiting the compound.
The video also shows Israeli policemen escorting two Jewish visitors outside the compound.
A police spokeswoman said that nine Jewish visitors who violated the site’s rules of visitation were removed from the compound.
Police and border police forces were deployed to maintain calm and order at the site, she added in a statement.
Israeli security forces are deployed by the thousands across Israel and in Jerusalem during the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover.
Tensions are high due to a six-months-long surge of violence during which Palestinian attacks have killed 28 Israelis and two visiting U.S. citizens. Israeli forces have killed at least 191 Palestinians, 130 of whom Israel says were assailants. Many others were shot dead in clashes and protests.
Factors driving the violence include Palestinian frustration over stalled statehood negotiations and the growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, increased Jewish access to a disputed Jerusalem shrine and Islamist-led calls for Israel’s destruction.
In a separate incident, Israeli security forces used tear gas grenades to disperse some 20 Palestinian demonstrators near a West Bank checkpoint.
Demonstrators near Ofer checkpoint were holding signs protesting against the detention of Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal who was held on Saturday (April 23) by Israel. Israeli security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators and media who fled the scene.
“(We are here to protest) the continuation of the arrest of Omar Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Journalists Syndicate and to demand his immediate release. Also, to condemn his arrest by the occupation authorities which had him arrested while he was on his way with journalists syndicate delegations to participate in a conference for European Federation for Journalists,” Musa al-Shaer, a Palestinian journalist, said.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the military was not involved in Nazzal’s detention or the dispersal of the demonstrators calling for his release.
Reuters
