Israeli police firing tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets have clashed with Palestinian stone-throwers at a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem.
It is the latest in a series of confrontations that threatens to push the contested city towards wider conflict.
More than a dozen tear gas canisters and stun grenades landed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, situated in a compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, said an Associated Press (AP) photographer at the scene.
Palestinians and Israeli police clash at al-Aqsa mosque on what Israelis call Jerusalem Day.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 10, 2021
Read the latest here: https://t.co/jtIrTU9Ohu pic.twitter.com/5xD8ZJIUtv
Smoke rose in front of the mosque and the famous golden-domed shrine on the site, and rocks littered the surrounding plaza.
More videos emerging from Al-Aqsa Mosque showing the violent attack of Israeli forces on peaceful worshippers this morning. Dozens have been injured, some in critical condition, says Palestinian Red Crescent. pic.twitter.com/wrGYbL4W94
— Arwa Ibrahim (@arwaib) May 10, 2021
VIDEO: Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces clash, water cannon deployed.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 10, 2021
Palestinian protesters and Israeli security forces clash in East Jerusalem, as tensions boil over the postponement of a key court hearing on a flashpoint property dispute pic.twitter.com/tiLicx0Vq5
Kenneth Roth Tweeted: “The UN Secretary-General expresses “deep concern over the continuing violence in occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the possible evictions of Palestinian families from their homes….He urges Israel to cease demolitions and evictions” as legally required.”
The UN Secretary-General expresses "deep concern over the continuing violence in occupied East Jerusalem, as well as the possible evictions of Palestinian families from their homes….He urges Israel to cease demolitions and evictions" as legally required. https://t.co/sHJd5LQeOL pic.twitter.com/KNbmGi9g5r
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) May 10, 2021
Debris
Inside one area of the compound, shoes and debris lay scattered over ornate carpets.
More than 270 Palestinians were hurt, including 205 who went to hospitals and clinics for treatment, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Five of the injured were in a serious condition.
Police said nine officers were hurt, including one who was taken to hospital.
Al Jazeera reported that: “Israeli forces prevent Palestinian medical teams from entering Al Aqsa Mosque compound.”
UPDATE: 215 Palestinians injured, 153 others hospitalised and 4 in a critical condition after Israeli police storm Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa compound.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 10, 2021
Follow LIVE updates ▶️ https://t.co/qhNyjFBFBj pic.twitter.com/7oiS8LGPEJ
Monday’s confrontation was the latest in the sacred compound after days of mounting tensions between Palestinians and Israeli troops in the Old City of Jerusalem, the emotional ground zero of the conflict.
Hundreds of Palestinians and about two dozen police officers have been hurt over the past few days.
The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, is also considered the holiest site in Judaism.
The compound has been the trigger for rounds of Israel-Palestinian violence in the past.
Barricaded
An AP photographer witnessing the clashes said that in the early morning hours, protesters had barricaded gates to the walled compound with wooden boards and scrap metal.
Sometime after 7am local time, clashes erupted, with those inside the compound throwing stones at police deployed outside.
Police entered the compound, firing tear gas and stun grenades.
At some point, about 400 people, both young protesters and older worshippers, were inside the carpeted Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Police fired tear gas and stun grenades into the mosque.
Police said protesters hurled stones at officers and on to an adjoining roadway near the Western Wall, where thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered to pray.
Israel has come under growing international criticism for its heavy-handed actions at the site, particularly during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed in a tweet that “extremist Palestinians planned well in advance to carry out riots” at the holy site.
He attached photos from the compound showing piles of stones and wooden boards, suggesting this was part of the protesters’ preparations for a confrontation.
Mr Gendelman said that Israel guarantees freedom of worship, but “not the freedom to riot and attack innocent people”.
In another violent incident, Palestinian protesters hurled rocks at an Israeli vehicle driving just outside the Old City walls.
The driver appeared to lose control and slammed into a bystander.
Police said in a statement that two passengers were injured.
1967 Middle East war
Earlier, police barred Jews from visiting the site on Monday, which Israelis mark as Jerusalem Day with a flag-waving parade through the Old City and its Muslim Quarter to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.
The marchers celebrate Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
In that conflict, Israel also captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It later annexed east Jerusalem, home to the city’s most sensitive holy sites, and considers the entire city its capital.
The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future state, with east Jerusalem as their capital.
The police decision to ban Jewish visitors temporarily from the holy site came hours before the start of the Jerusalem Day march, which is widely perceived by Palestinians as a provocative display of Jewish hegemony over the contested city.
Police have allowed the parade to take place despite growing concerns that it could further inflame the tension.
This year the march coincides with Ramadan, a time of heightened religious sensitivities, and follows weeks of clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in Jerusalem.
Violence has occurred almost nightly throughout Ramadan, beginning when Israel blocked off a popular spot where Muslims traditionally gather each night at the end of their daylong fast.
Israel later removed the restrictions, but clashes quickly resumed amid tensions over the eviction plan in Sheikh Jarrah, an Arab neighbourhood where settlers have waged a lengthy legal battle to take over properties.
Israel’s Supreme Court postponed a key ruling on Monday that could have led to the evictions of dozens of Palestinians from their homes, citing the “circumstances”.
The Israeli crackdown and planned evictions have drawn harsh condemnations from Israel’s Arab allies and expressions of concern from the US, European Union and United Nations.
The UN Security Council scheduled closed consultations on Monday on the soaring tensions in Jerusalem.
Diplomats said the meeting was requested by Tunisia, the Arab representative on the council.
Late Sunday, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke to his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, and urged calm.
A White House statement said that Mr Sullivan called on Israel to “pursue appropriate measures to ensure calm” and expressed the US’s “serious concerns” about the ongoing violence and planned evictions.
Rockets
The tensions in Jerusalem have threatened to reverberate throughout the region.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fired several barrages of rockets into Israel, and protesters allied with the ruling Hamas militant group have launched dozens of incendiary balloons into Israel, setting off fires across the southern part of the country.
Last night and this morning several rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israeli communities (earlier Israel completely closed off Gaza fishing zone in response to incendiary balloons launched from Gaza)
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) May 10, 2021
“The occupier plays with fire, and tampering with Jerusalem is very dangerous,” Saleh Arouri, a top Hamas official, told the militant group’s Al-Aqsa TV station.
In response, COGAT, the Israeli Defence Ministry organ responsible for crossings with the Gaza Strip, announced on Monday that it was closing the Erez crossing to all but humanitarian and exceptional cases until further notice.
“This measure follows the decision to close the fishing zone yesterday, and following rocket fire and the continued launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip towards the State of Israel, which constitute a violation of the Israeli sovereignty,” COGAT said in a statement.