Hours after clashes broke out between Israeli police and Palestinians inside the premises of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem on Friday (April 15), social media users pointed out how the latter had been collecting stones to pelt at the Israeli forces.
Columnist Yisrael Medad shared a video where Palestinians were seen barricading the Al-Aqsa mosque and collecting stones. While labelling it as a ‘religious service’, Medad pointed out how the stone pelters were not interrupted or stopped by other worshippers within the mosque premises.
Dov Hikind, the founder of America Against Antisemitism, had also shared images of stones that were kept within the mosque premises. He had inquired, “If Ramadan and Al Aqsa truly mattered to Palestinians why would they desecrate the month and the site by bringing stones to throw and playing soccer in there?! Religion is no excuse for violence so don’t try to abuse it.”
Eli Lipshitz, the spokesperson at the Embassy of Israel in Canada, pointed out how the Palestinians were seen covering their faces and carrying rocks in hand. “Glad to see responsible worshipers returning the holy site to a place of worship. Here’s a picture of the attackers,” he had tweeted.
Another Twitter user shared an image of rioters, armed with stones, who were present inside the mosque. They were seen carrying Hamas and PA flags and standing next to a pile of rocks. “Israeli forces entered (the) mosque in order to disperse violent rioters,” he had tweeted.
News reporter Yossi Eli also shared footage of how Palestinians, who were supposedly praying at the mosque, pelted stones at the Israeli forces.
Notably, the news of strikes and the intensification of violence comes during Ramzan, the Muslim holy month, and just before Passover, the Jewish festival. Last year, Israeli security forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramzan which resulted in further escalating tensions and led to an 11-day Israeli action in Gaza in retaliation to Hamas rockets fired at Israel.
In anticipation of terrorist strikes, Israel’s Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, recently instructed the country’s security services to remain on high alert until Ramadan’s end. Following a shootout in Jenin, West Bank, in which three suspected terrorists were killed, this decision was taken.
The three terrorists were killed by Israeli Defense Forces on the night of April 3 near Jenin, a West Bank city. Days following the alert, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett stated that security forces had lately thwarted more than 15 terrorist assaults in the Jewish state.