The attacks of the Israeli occupation forces did not prevent tens of thousands of Palestinians from performing Friday prayers at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, amid protests in Gaza, Jordan and Yemen against these attacks, while the United Nations expressed its “concern” about these developments.
Dozens of worshipers were injured, some seriously, after the Israeli occupation forces stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque for the sixth time in a row, and targeted worshipers in the dawn hours, using gas bombs, batons and severe beatings.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that 57 Palestinians were injured as a result of the occupation forces' suppression of worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The spokesman for the Red Crescent stated that most of the injuries were the result of targeting with rubber bullets and beatings.
Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that dozens of worshipers were injured as the occupation forces fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at the worshipers in the mosque, who responded by throwing stones at the occupation police.
Eyewitnesses said that the occupation police arrested a young man at the Mughrabi Gate after he sustained serious injuries.
For its part, the Israeli police announced that an Israeli female soldier was injured when stones were thrown at her.
The Israeli police claimed that its forces intervened when hundreds began throwing stones and firecrackers and approached the Western Wall, where Jewish prayers were taking place.
She indicated that she did not respond at first so that the worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque could complete their prayers, as she put it.
Dozens of Palestinians suffocated as a result of the occupation's firing of tear gas canisters from a march that was flying over the crowds in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, and this led to the return of tension to the area.
international "worry"
On Friday, the United Nations expressed "deep concern" about the month-long violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We are deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel over the past month," Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the United Nations Human Rights Office, said at a regular conference of the organization in Geneva.
It stated that the behavior of the Israeli security forces on April 15, documented in several recordings, "raises serious concerns that the use of force was widespread, unnecessary and arbitrary."
mass prayer
Despite the confrontations with the occupation forces, tens of thousands of Palestinians performed the third Friday prayer of Ramadan in Al-Aqsa. The Islamic Endowment Department estimated the number of worshipers at about 150,000 who were able to reach from Jerusalem and the towns from within the Green Line, in addition to the Palestinians who came from different areas in the West Bank. The West Bank, where they are not allowed to enter Jerusalem during Ramadan except on Fridays, and for men, only those over the age of fifty are allowed to enter.
Escalation with Gaza?
The Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, Aviv Kohavi, instructed the commander of the southern command in the army to prepare for any possible escalation on the border with the Gaza Strip.
And called the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" to gather in the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan, and stressed that it will not allow the occupation to pass its plans, which it described as malicious in Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem.
In turn, the Islamic Jihad movement said that the ongoing crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people require more than ever the adherence to rights by all means, especially the armed resistance, as it put it.
Hamas organized mass rallies in Gaza that started from mosques in the northern Gaza Strip after performing Friday prayers in support of the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Washington to immediately intervene to stop the Israeli measures.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque again by the occupation forces, and said that it considered it extremely dangerous.
The ministry's statement held the Israeli government responsible for the deliberate Israeli escalation against Al-Aqsa and its dangers to the entire region. The statement added that the Israeli foreign minister is flipping and falsifying the facts to hold worshipers responsible for the escalation at Al-Aqsa, and considered that the Israeli government's statements regarding maintaining the status quo at Al-Aqsa are false.
According to the statement.
In the northern West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians attended the funeral of a young man who died on Friday, as a result of being shot by the Israeli army last Monday.
Anger in Jordan and Yemen
In Jordan, Jordanian popular and partisan activities demanded today the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Amman and the severing of relations between Jordan and Israel, during a march in front of the Husseini Mosque in the downtown area of the capital to support Jerusalemites and reject the attacks of the Israeli occupation.
Popular demands have been escalating for several days in the Jordanian street to support Al-Aqsa Mosque and support the Palestinian resistance, and it is the first time that nationalist, leftist and Islamic parties have met in one demonstration for some time.
In Yemen, Freedom Square in the city center of Taiz witnessed after Friday prayers a demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinian people. The participants in the demonstration denounced the Israeli practices against the Palestinian people and the repression, persecution and violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The demonstrators called on the international community to take an urgent position and intervene to protect the Palestinians and stop the policy of double standards.