THE ASSAULT on the Al Aqsa Mosque is equal to a ‘Declaration of War on the Palestinians’, said the spokesman for the President of the State of Palestine, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, yesterday.
The Presidency has called for urgent international intervention to prevent the Israeli state running riot and committing murder at the Mosque.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh regarded what is taking place at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and Israeli police breaking-into the al-Qibli prayer hall, a 1,000-year-old domed building, as ‘a serious development, an act of sacrilege, and it is tantamount to declaring war on our Palestinian people.’
‘Immediate intervention by the international community is needed to halt this Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent things from going out of control,’ he added.
As Abu Rudeineh made his remarks, heavily-armed Israeli police beat Palestinian worshippers in a storming of the main prayer hall inside the mosque, forcing them to lie face down.
Images of worshippers tied up and lying prone on al-Aqsa’s carpeted prayer hall during the second Friday of Ramadan quickly went viral and caused uproar. Some footage circulated online showed Israeli forces beating the detainees.
Police fired teargas into the hall, smashed some of its windows and detained 400 people.
They used batons and tear gas to violently disperse hundreds of worshippers, who gathered at the holy site before dawn for prayers, and clear the mosque’s courtyards. Police were seen beating journalists, women and elderly people.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said that its medics provided treatment to over 153 people, including journalists and medics, mostly with upper-body injuries, and transferred some 30 others to nearby hospitals.
Israel’s military on Thursday night sealed off the entrances to al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, according to local sources.
The soldiers closed the metal gate at the main entrance of the camp, preventing passage in both directions and stopping Palestinian commuters and inspecting their ID cards.
They also blocked the entrance of the metal gate at the main entrance of Beit Einun village, northeast of the city, following confrontations.
Israeli is severely restricting Palestinians’ freedom of movement through a complex combination of approximately 100 fixed checkpoints, flying checkpoints, settler-only roads and various other physical obstructions.
In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces quelled confrontations that erupted following the funeral procession of Fawaz Hamayel at the entrance of Beita town, south of Nablus.
• See editorial
