Europe 1 with AFP 09:28, April 29, 2022

Clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police erupted early Friday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, leaving 42 injured.

This violence comes in a context of escalation after four attacks carried out in Israel since the end of March which left 14 dead.

Clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police left 42 injured this Friday morning on the esplanade of the Mosques, a hotbed of tension in the Old City of Jerusalem, after more than a month of violence in the Palestinian Territories and Israel.

Early Friday, "there were 42 wounded during clashes with the occupying forces" on the esplanade of the Mosques, located in East Jerusalem, Palestinian sector occupied by Israel, announced the Palestinian Red Crescent.

An initial assessment reported 12 injured.

No injuries in serious condition

Of these wounded, 22 were transported to a hospital in Jerusalem, but "none is in serious condition", said the Red Crescent.

Israeli police previously said that "rioters" had "thrown rocks and set off fireworks", prompting them to enter the esplanade and use "means to disperse the crowd".

Two people were arrested, according to the police.

Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, other witnesses said.

A precarious calm returned to the place in the morning, while thousands of faithful are expected later in the day for this last Friday of Ramadan, the month of Muslim fasting which is due to end at the beginning of next week.

Over the past two weeks, violent clashes have injured more than 250 Palestinians in and around the Esplanade of the Mosques, Islam's third holiest site and Judaism's holiest site known as the Temple Mount.

It is located in the eastern part of Jerusalem, occupied since 1967 by Israel and then annexed.

This holy place is administered by Jordan, but access to it is controlled by the Jewish state.

"Defend Jerusalem"

This violence comes in a context of escalation after four attacks carried out in Israel since the end of March which left 14 dead, including an Israeli Arab policeman and two Ukrainians.

Two of the attacks were perpetrated in the metropolis of Tel Aviv by Palestinians from the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. In the wake of these attacks, the Israeli army carried out several operations in the West Bank punctuated by deadly clashes.

A total of 26 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs were killed, including attackers.

The new clashes also occur when "Youm al-Quds al-Alami" is celebrated this Friday, an annual day of "defense" of Jerusalem, initiated by Iran in the wake of the Islamic revolution of 1979. Thursday evening, tenors of the Palestinian Islamist movements of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, close to Iran, had held a rally in the Gaza stadium to mark this day and called for "defending" Jerusalem and the esplanade of the Mosques.

General Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian ideological army, took part in this event by videoconference and affirmed that “the State of Israel will be defeated”.

The presence on the esplanade during Ramadan of many Jews, authorized to visit the place at specific times but without praying there according to the status quo in force, and the deployment of police forces, were widely perceived by Palestinians and several countries in the region as a gesture of "provocation".

Israel "will not change" the status quo on the esplanade of the Mosques assured the head of Israeli diplomacy Yaïr Lapid on Sunday, affirming that the recent police interventions on the esplanade were "justified".