JERUSALEM — The Israeli police raided the most prominent holy site in Jerusalem early on Wednesday to detain scores of Palestinians who had barricaded themselves inside, prompting armed groups in Gaza to fire rockets into Israeli airspace and the Israeli Air Force to respond with strikes on military sites in Gaza.
Brief clashes broke out in other parts of Jerusalem’s Old City in response to the raid, at the Aqsa Mosque compound, and there were calls in many cities for Palestinians to come to the compound to protect it. But by later Wednesday morning, the situation had calmed.
The police forced their way into one of the two main prayer halls at the contested holy site, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. In the ensuing confrontations, police officers struck Palestinians with batons and Palestinians fired fireworks. Palestinian news outlets said the police had fired tear gas and sponge-tipped bullets.
Palestinians also threw stones at officers, according to the police. The police said they had arrested and removed more than 350 Palestinians from the compound; a Palestinian prisoners’ rights group said more than 400 were arrested.
Clashes often occur at the Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews call the Temple Mount, during periods of tension in the region. Officials and diplomats have been warning that the overlap of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins on Wednesday evening, could make such clashes more likely.
A New Surge of Israeli-Palestinian Violence
A recent spasm of violence in Israel and the West Bank has stoked fears that tensions may further escalate.
The police said the Palestinians had locked the doors of the prayer hall, the Qibli Mosque, from the inside and barricaded the entrances, hours after the taraweeh prayers, which are held nightly during Ramadan. The police said they had raided the mosque after prolonged attempts to persuade the worshipers to leave.
After the raid, armed groups in Gaza launched at least nine rockets toward Israel, five of which were intercepted by the country’s air defense system, with the four others landing in open fields, according to the Israeli military. Hours later, Israel carried out a number of airstrikes on military sites in Gaza, according to Palestinian news media and the Israeli military.
Some Palestinians had called for worshipers to go to Aqsa for itikaf, a tradition of staying overnight in a mosque for worship, which is practiced especially during Ramadan. They expressed concern that with Passover beginning, more Jewish worshipers would come to the site.
For decades after capturing the site from Jordan in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Israel prevented Jews from praying at the compound. But they have been tacitly allowed to do so in recent years, which has angered many Palestinians and Muslim states in the region. Some Jewish activists recently called for sacrificing a goat at the compound to observe Passover, something that the Israeli police have repeatedly said they would prevent.
Since Ramadan began two weeks ago, the police have been forcing Muslims to leave the Aqsa compound after the nightly taraweeh prayers to ensure that they do not stay overnight. The police have also prevented many young Palestinian men from entering the mosque compound for morning prayers, according to Palestinian news outlets.
On Saturday, the Israeli police shot and killed a Palestinian citizen of Israel in disputed circumstances at one of the entrances of the mosque compound. Police said the man seized and fired a police officer’s gun. Palestinian news outlets reported that he had been killed during a scuffle after intervening to prevent the assault of a Palestinian woman.
