Jerusalem: Atleast 31 Palestinian worshipers were injured on Friday by rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas shells and stun grenades, during a raid by Israeli forces at Al Aqsa Mosque.
The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) said, “Our teams have so far dealt with 31 injuries during the confrontations that erupted in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and 14 injuries have been transferred to the hospital.”
Israeli forces after dawn prayer entered the mosque and fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at about 200 Palestinians, some of whom were throwing stones at them.
Nearly 1,50,000 Palestinians performed the third and penultimate Friday prayer of Ramzan.
Around 3,670 settlers marking the Jewish celebration of Passover entered Al Aqsa in the last five days, according to a tally by the Waqf, an Islamic trust that manages the affairs of the mosque.
This year, Ramzan has coincided with the Jewish Passover and major Christian holidays, with tens of thousands of people from all three faiths flocking to Jerusalem’s Old City.
Israeli settlers storm the Mosque’s courtyards, under police guard, on all days of the week, except for Friday and Saturday.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, West Bank, and the Gaza Strip during the six-day Arab-Israeli War in 1967. It later had to withdraw from Gaza.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank.
