Following weeks of violence at the flashpoint site, Palestinians and Israeli police clashed again on Friday at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, injuring 42 persons, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The violence occurred on the last Friday of Ramazan, the Muslim holy month. According to the Red Crescent, none of the injuries were serious, and 22 individuals were sent to the hospital.
Israel's police reported "rioters" threw stones and pyrotechnics at the compound, including down toward the Western Wall, a holy Jewish landmark below Al-Aqsa.
Tensions remain high at the site in the heart of Jerusalem’s old, walled city, part of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been injured in clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound.
Israel’s incursions into the site during Ramazan have raised global concern, but the Jewish state has insisted it was compelled to act against operatives from the Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were seeking to spark widespread unrest across Jerusalem.
In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has stressed that the government was committed to the status quo at the compound, meaning an adherence to long-standing convention that only Muslims are allowed to pray there. Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount.
The fresh unrest comes as the end of Ramazan early next week.
The violence occurred on the last Friday of Ramazan, the Muslim holy month. According to the Red Crescent, none of the injuries were serious, and 22 individuals were sent to the hospital.
Israel's police reported "rioters" threw stones and pyrotechnics at the compound, including down toward the Western Wall, a holy Jewish landmark below Al-Aqsa.
Tensions remain high at the site in the heart of Jerusalem’s old, walled city, part of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been injured in clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound.
Israel’s incursions into the site during Ramazan have raised global concern, but the Jewish state has insisted it was compelled to act against operatives from the Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad who were seeking to spark widespread unrest across Jerusalem.
In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has stressed that the government was committed to the status quo at the compound, meaning an adherence to long-standing convention that only Muslims are allowed to pray there. Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount.
The fresh unrest comes as the end of Ramazan early next week.
