Israeli police today quelled rallies over the violent raids into Al-Aqsa Mosque in several Palestinian towns in northern Israel. Palestinian citizens of Israel took to the streets in Nazareth, Sakhnin, Baqa al-Gharbiya, Kafr Manda and Kabul in denunciation of Israeli occupation forces’ violent attacks against worshippers at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon. The heavily-armed police assaulted the peaceful protestors, snatched Palestine flags from them and detained some 17 people amidst soaring tensions over the occupation forces raids into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, assaulting and forcible removal of Muslim worshippers. Israeli occupation forces stormed Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque while nearly 20,000 worshippers were still performing the Ramadan Taraweeh night prayer and forcibly removed worshippers from its prayer hall and surrounding yards for the second consecutive night late Wednesday. On Tuesday, the occupation forces raided al-Aqsa mosque and assaulted worshippers in shocking scenes recorded on video and widely shared on social media, generating international condemnation. The heavily-armed police officers could be seen pushing peaceful Muslim worshippers, including elderly men, off their prayer mats and forcing them to leave the site. In other scenes, the police were filmed beating worshippers with batons and rifle butts while they appeared to be lying on the floor and firing tear gas inside a darkened Al-Aqsa, while women could be heard screaming in protest. The police brutalization of the worshippers was reminiscent to the 2021 Ramadan tensions and May violence over Israeli settler takeover of Palestinian property in Sheikh Jarrah and encroachments upon the mosque compound, culminating in Israeli onslaught on Gaza and large-scale protests throughout historic Palestine. The police crackdown portends an increased risk for large-scale detention raids reminiscent to the May 2021 wave of mass arrests of Palestinian citizens of Israel as part of what Israel at the time dubbed as ‘Operation Law and Order’ to ‘settle accounts’ with the latter over their participation in protests against Israel’s colonial policies, including the forced displacements in Sheikh Jarrah, encroachments upon Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and settler mob violence. While at that time Israel depicted the campaign as intended to restore order and deterrence against ‘rioters’ and ‘criminals’ involved in attacks against ‘Jews’, Palestinian citizens of Israel maintained that it intended to intimidate and discipline those who participated in protests and crush their resilience and resistance to Israel’s apartheid and colonial regime and settler mob violence. For many Palestinians in Jerusalem and across the occupied Palestinian territory, Ramadan is directly connected to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque and is considered the third holiest site in Islam. Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
Source: Palestine News & Information Agency (WAFA)