Published today (updated) 27/09/2009 11:42
Jerusalem – Ma’an – At least 13 Palestinians were injured as fierce clahes broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem on Sunday morning after Israeli police permitted settlers to break into the area, witnesses said.
Two of the injured Palestinians reportedly sustained serious injuries to the eye and head. Israeli police said two officers were also hurt.
On Thursday, the Al-Aqsa Foundation had warned of an impending attack. Officials in Jerusalem said extremists were preparing to break into the holy Muslim area and accurately predicted that the break-in would occur on Sunday, under the pretext of celebrating an upcoming religious holiday.
Confrontations erupted after groups of Israelis broke into the compound, reportedly under the guard of Israeli police. Palestinians hurled stones, chairs, and shoes at the Israelis, while police tried to disperse the Palestinians by force, injuring nine people at first.
Further confrontations erupted outside the compound near Majlis Gate, one of the main entrances to the compound. Witnesses said police prevented Palestinian worshippers from entering the area. Four were injured in a new wave of clashes, witnesses said. One of those four was also hit in the eye. Palestinian sources said some of the injured were evacuated from the compound while the rest remained inside.
For their part, Israeli police said only two Palestinians were injured in the clashes.
Hundreds of Jerusalemites and Palestinians living inside Israel hurried to the mosque compound when word of the clashes spread, but Israeli police closed all entrances in what they said was an effort to contain the fighting. Demonstrators gathered outside the main gates chanting and denouncing the occupation, and what they called assaults against holy places and residents in Jerusalem.
Israeli police also prevented Islamic notables such as Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, chief of the Islamic Supreme Committee, and grand mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, from accessing Al-Aqsa. Hatim Abdul-Qadir, former PA minister of Jerusalem affairs and current Fatah representative on Jerusalem, was also denied access to the mosque.
Israeli police produced an order preventing Abdul-Qadir from accessing Al-Aqsa until further notice, under the pretext that he urged demonstrators to gather at the compound to counter settler groups attempting to break into the mosque area.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=227880