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Tag: Al-Aqsa Mosque

  • Jerusalem Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab, chairman of the Wakf Council, dies age 79

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    Israel Police arrested Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab in 2019 after riots at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

    Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab, chairman of the Wakf Council, died on Thursday night, according to Palestinian media reports and statements from Palestinian terror groups.

    The Jerusalem Waqf Islamic religious trust was instituted by Jordan after Israel’s War of Independence and is best known for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on and around the Temple Mount.

    Salhab was previously arrested by Israeli forces in 2019 after riots saw thousands of Palestinians storm the Golden Gates, which were closed by court order since 2023. He was later released, though banned from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque for 40 days.

    Salhab personally reopened the gate leading into the Bab al-Rahmeh mosque, according to Reuters, which led to hundreds entering the zone.

    Palestinian Authority-run media WAFA reported that police raided the home of Salhab and a fellow Wakf official in the middle of the night.

    In response to the arrest and subsequent ban, members of Jerusalem’s Muslim community took over and converted a 1,500-year-old structure near the Golden Gate (known as Shaar Harachamim in Hebrew) into a mosque.

    Mourning Jerusalem Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab

    Mourning “one of the pillars of Jerusalem,” the Hamas terror group put in a statement that Salhab died after “a life dedicated to serving and defending the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem.”

    “He consistently stood against the Judaization policies and repeated violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque, and he faithfully and courageously shouldered the responsibility of protecting the Islamic Waqf,” the terror group stated.

    Khaled Abu Toameh and Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this report.

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  • Tensions Build In Jerusalem After Al-Aqsa Mosque Attack

    Tensions Build In Jerusalem After Al-Aqsa Mosque Attack

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    JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli warplanes and artillery struck targets in Syria following rare rocket fire from the northeastern neighbor, as Jewish-Muslim tensions reached a peak Sunday at a volatile Jerusalem shrine with simultaneous religious rituals.

    Thousands of Jewish worshippers gathered at the city’s Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray, for a mass priestly benediction prayer service for the Passover holiday. At the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a walled esplanade above the Western Wall, hundreds of Palestinians performed prayers as part of observances during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

    Hundreds of Jews also visited the Al-Aqsa compound under heavy police guard Sunday, to whistles and religious chants from Palestinians protesting their presence.

    Such tours by religious and nationalist Jews have increased in size and frequency over the years, and are viewed with suspicion by many Palestinians who fear that Israel plans one day to take over the site or partition it. Israeli officials say they have no intention of changing long-standing arrangements that allow Jews to visit, but not pray in the Muslim-administered site. However, the country is now governed by the most right-wing government in its history, with ultra-nationalists in senior positions.

    Tensions have soared in the past week at the flashpoint shrine after an Israeli police raid on the mosque. On several occasions, Palestinians have barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque with stones and firecrackers, demanding the right to pray there overnight, something Israel has in the past only allowed during the last 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Police removed them by force, detaining hundreds and leaving dozens injured.

    The violence at the shrine triggered rocket fire by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon, starting Wednesday, and Israeli airstrikes targeted both areas.

    In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s media office announced that the militant group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, received a delegation headed by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday. The two discussed “the most important developments in occupied Palestine, the course of events at al-Aqsa Mosque, and the escalating resistance in the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to general political developments in the region, the readiness of the resistance axis and the cooperation of its parties,” the statement said.

    Haniyeh, who arrived in Lebanon last week shortly before rockets were launched at Israel from south Lebanon, had been scheduled to make a public appearance in Beirut on Friday. But it was canceled for security reasons following the exchange of strikes between Lebanon and Israel. No group has officially claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks, but Israel has accused Hamas of being behind them.

    Late on Saturday and early Sunday, militants in Syria fired rockets in two salvos toward Israel and the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. A Damascus-based Palestinian group loyal to the Syrian government claimed responsibility for the first round of rockets, saying it was retaliating for the Al-Aqsa raids.

    In the first salvo, one rocket landed in a field in the Golan Heights. Fragments of another destroyed missile fell into Jordanian territory near the Syrian border, Jordan’s military reported. In the second round, two of the rockets crossed the border into Israel, with one being intercepted and the second landing in an open area, the Israeli military said.

    Israel responded with artillery fire into the area in Syria from where the rockets were fired. Later, the military said Israeli fighter jets attacked Syrian army sites, including a compound of Syria’s 4th Division and radar and artillery posts.

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the violence in a telephone call with Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog late Saturday, telling Herzog that Muslims could not remain silent about the “provocations and threats” against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and said the hostilities that have spread to Gaza and Lebanon should not be allowed to escalate further.

    In addition to the cross-border fighting, three people were killed over the weekend in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

    The funeral for two British-Israeli sisters, Maia and Rina Dee, who were killed in a shooting was scheduled for Sunday at a cemetery in the Jewish settlement of Kfar Etzion in the occupied West Bank.

    An Italian tourist, Alessandro Parini, 35, a lawyer from Rome, had just arrived in the city a few hours earlier with some friends for a brief Easter holiday. He was killed Friday in a suspected car-ramming on Tel Aviv’s beachside promenade.

    Over 90 Palestinians and have been killed by Israeli fire so far this year, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Palestinian attacks on Israelis have killed 19 people in that time. All but one were civilians.

    Associated Press writers Suzan Frazer in Ankara, Turkey; Abby Sewell in Beirut and Frances D’Emilio in Rome contributed to this report.

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  • Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan prayers, sparking rocket fire from Gaza | CNN

    Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan prayers, sparking rocket fire from Gaza | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites, during Ramadan prayers early Wednesday, arresting hundreds of Palestinians and sparking retaliatory rocket fire from militants in Gaza.

    Footage shared on social media showed Israeli officers striking screaming people with batons inside the darkened building. Eyewitnesses told CNN that police had smashed doors and windows to enter the mosque and deployed stun grenades and rubber bullets once inside. Video shared by Israeli police show forces holding riot shields up as fireworks were launched back at them, ricocheting off the walls.

    Israeli police said in a statement that its forces entered al-Aqsa after “hundreds of rioters and mosque desecrators (had) barricaded themselves” inside.

    “When the police entered, stones were thrown at them, and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,” according to the statement.

    The Palestinian Red Crescent in Jerusalem said at least 12 people were injured during clashes in and around the mosque, and at least three of the injured were transferred to hospital, some with injuries from rubber bullets.

    The Red Crescent added that at one point its ambulances were targeted by police and were prevented from reaching the injured.

    The incident drew condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli police actions “in the strongest terms,” and called on Israel to immediately remove its forces from the mosque. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the “storming” of the mosque by police, saying it had caused “numerous injuries among worshipers and devotees” and was “in violation of all international laws and customs.”

    Police said they arrested and removed more than 350 people in the mosque, and that one Israeli police officer was wounded in the leg by stones.

    Images shared on social media showed dozens of detained people lying facedown on the floor of the mosque with their legs and arms bound behind their backs, and others with their hands tied being led into a vehicle.

    Al-Aqsa has seen hundreds of thousands of worshipers offer prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year. Jews are set to celebrate Passover on Wednesday evening.

    Over the last two weeks, there have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the mosque compound as part of an ancient Passover holiday ritual that is no longer practiced by most Jews. A greater number of Muslim worshipers stayed in the mosque after calls came to prevent those attempts.

    Last week, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police at the entrance of the compound. Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Osaibi.

    The mosque compound, frequently a flashpoint in tensions, is home to one of Islam’s most revered sites but also the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount.

    The compound reopened for prayers shortly after.

    In a statement Wednesday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the actions of the Israeli police, saying: “What is happening in Jerusalem is a major crime against worshipers.”

    “Israel does not want to learn from history, that al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and for all Arabs and Muslims, and that storming it sparked a revolution against the occupation,” Shtayyeh added.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday that nine rockets were fired from Gaza Strip toward Israel after the incident in Jerusalem.

    “Following the previous report regarding the sirens which sounded in Sderot, five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” said the IDF. “Four of them were intercepted by the aerial defense array.”

    The IDF also said four additional rockets launched from Gaza toward Israel but landed in open space.

    “Following the additional sirens that sounded in the surroundings of the Gaza Strip, four rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip that landed in open areas. No interceptors were launched according to protocol,” the IDF added.

    Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, said in a statement that “the current Israeli occupation’s crimes at the al-Aqsa mosque are unprecedented violations that will not pass.”

    Later on Wednesday, the Israeli military said its fighter jets had struck weapons manufacturing and storage sites in the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas.

    “This strike was carried out in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory earlier,” it said in a statement.

    Last year was the deadliest for both Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and for Israelis in nearly two decades, CNN analysis of official statistics on both sides showed.

    And this year has seen a violent beginning, too. At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics. In addition to suspected militants being targeted by Israeli forces, the dead include Palestinians killing, wounding or attempting to kill Israeli civilians, people clashing with Israeli security and bystanders, CNN records show.

    In the same period, at least 15 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, CNN records show – 14 civilians and a police officer who was hit by friendly fire after being stabbed by a Palestinian teenager while inspecting bus passengers.

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  • Palestinian man shot dead in disputed circumstances near Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa compound | CNN

    Palestinian man shot dead in disputed circumstances near Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa compound | CNN

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    Jerusalem
    CNN
     — 

    A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police early on Saturday at the entrance to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, frequently a flashpoint in tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

    Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Osaibi at the compound, home to one of Islam’s most revered sites but also the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount.

    A former Israeli lawmaker, Talab Al-Sanee, said Al-Osaibi was killed after he tried to intervene when he saw Israeli police and border guards assaulting a young Palestinian woman.

    Israeli police said the man had grabbed a gun from a police officer who had stopped him for questioning and managed to fire two shots before he was killed by police.

    Social media video apparently filmed at the time of the incident captured the sound of at least 11 gunshots – the first one followed almost immediately by nine in quick succession, then another one after a moment’s pause.

    Al-Osaibi’s family asked police to release security camera footage of the incident to prove “the allegations that their son pulled a soldier’s weapon.”

    A police spokeswoman told CNN there is no video of the incident.

    The incident came in the middle of Ramadan, which has passed largely peacefully in Jerusalem. The first two Fridays of the Muslim holy month have seen hundreds of thousands of worshippers offer prayers at al-Aqsa without incident.

    A large group of Muslim worshippers staged a mass prayer outside the holy site Saturday after the incident, video from the scene showed.

    Local authorities in Al-Osaibi’s native region of Rahat in the Negeb called for a general strike on Sunday in response to the killing.

    And Palestinian Authority presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned in a statement against what he described as “the dangerous escalation by the Israeli occupation authorities,” calling the Israeli version of the killing of Al-Osaibi “fabricated.”

    The relative calm of Ramadan comes after a violent beginning to the year in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

    At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics. In addition to suspected militants being targeted by Israeli forces, the dead include Palestinians killing, wounding or attempting to kill Israeli civilians, people clashing with Israeli security and bystanders, CNN records show.

    In the same period, at least 15 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, CNN records show – 14 civilians and a police officer who was hit by friendly fire after being stabbed by a Palestinian teenager while inspecting bus passengers.

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  • Palestinians in Gaza protest against wave of Israeli violence

    Palestinians in Gaza protest against wave of Israeli violence

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    Protesters held banners in solidarity with victims of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

    Khan Yunis, Gaza — Thousands of people in the besieged Gaza Strip have protested in solidarity with fellow Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem amid a wave of violence by Israeli forces.

    The rallies on Friday, called by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, began from mosques in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza and Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, where the demonstrators carried banners that read: “Palestine brings us together, Jerusalem is ours, We will defend Jerusalem with our hands and souls.”

    The protesters held banners of solidarity with the people of Jerusalem and pictures of young men killed by the Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

    Mosheer Al-Masry, a senior Hamas official, told Al Jazeera the protests affirmed the unity of all Palestinians following a reconciliation deal signed by rival Palestinian groups on Thursday.

    “The West Bank and Jerusalem are entering in a new phase that shows Israeli occupation that armed struggle is the choice of our people,” he said.

    He said daily incursions by Israeli settlers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in the old city of Jerusalem, and other recent Israeli provocations at the site were only driving Palestinian resistance.

    “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque are the core of the conflict and for their sake our people rose up throughout their history,” he said.

    “The West Bank is rising up again, confirming that the path towards liberation and sweeping the occupier is through the barrel of a gun.”

    Israeli forces have been carrying out near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank in recent months, largely focused on the towns of Jenin and Nablus, where a new wave of Palestinian armed resistance is emerging.

    Meanwhile, since the beginning of the year, at least 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, including 51 Palestinians during Israel’s three-day assault on Gaza in August, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

    Tensions have also been high in occupied East Jerusalem since Saturday evening after Israeli police locked down the Shuafat camp on the pretext of searching for a Palestinian suspected of killing a female soldier.

    On Wednesday, businesses went on strike and educational institutions closed in occupied East Jerusalem in solidarity with the besieged people in the Shuafat camp and with the Anata, Ras Khamis, Ras Shehadeh and Dahiyat al-Salam neighbourhoods, where the Israeli police have imposed strict restrictions on residents’ movements.

    A woman participant in the protest holds a banner that reads ‘Al-Aqsa is for us, not for the darkness’ [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]

    In Khan Yunis, Abu Sufyan Muhammad, 60, told Al Jazeera he was protesting to show his support for the people of the occupied territories in light of the recent wave of violence.

    “We will not be silent about the Israeli actions against us. We are one people and one suffering, and our protest today is an affirmation of our unity in the face of the occupation,” he said.

    Muhammad called on all Arab and Islamic countries to intervene to stop repeated Israeli aggression.

    “The situation has become unbearable. Enough of the silence and humiliation. The occupation does what it wants without accountability.”

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