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Israeli police attacked dozens of worshipers at the compound of Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque before dawn on Wednesday, according to witnesses, in what Israeli police said was a response to the unrest.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that there were injuries, but did not specify how many. In a statement, he claimed that Israeli forces were preventing his doctors from reaching the mosque.
“I was sitting on a chair reciting (the Koran),” an elderly woman told Reuters news agency as she sat outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath. “They threw flashbangs, one of them hit me in the chest,” she said as she began to cry.
Israeli police said in a statement that they were forced into the compound after “masked rioters” barricaded themselves in the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.
“When the police entered, a large group of agitators threw stones at them and fired fireworks from inside the mosque,” the statement said, adding that a police officer was injured in the leg.
Violence in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem has increased in the past year and there are concerns that tensions could escalate this month, when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with Passover and Christian Passover.
Clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, have sparked violence in recent years.
Palestinian groups condemned Israel’s attacks on worshipers, calling it a crime.
“We warn the occupation not to cross the red lines at the holy places, which will cause a huge explosion,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
Videos circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed fireworks going off and police beating people inside the mosque.
*This is a developing news…
*With Reuters; adapted from its original in English
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