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Palestinians protest Israeli attacks against Al-Aqsa mosque

Xinhua, September 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Palestinians took to the streets of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest Israeli attacks and aggression against al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem.

Hundreds of demonstrators lifted signs opposing Jewish groups' entry to the Islamic holy site and the attempts to impose a temporal and spatial division at the compound, demanding a firm Palestinian and Arabic stance towards the current tension in Jerusalem.

In the West Bank, clashes broke out in several cities after the Israeli forces tried to disperse the demonstrations that responded to several calls for a rage day for al-Aqsa mosque.

Dozens of protesters hurled stones at the Israeli forces which responded with bullets, foul-smelling water and tear gas. Palestinian medical sources reported that 2 Palestinians suffered wounds after being hit with live bullets, 4 Palestinians sustained injuries with rubber bullets while dozens of protesters suffered suffocation.

Leader in the Islamic movement of Hamas Ismael Radwan warned that all options are open for the "resistance" parties to defend al-Aqsa. During his participation in a demonstration in Gaza, Radwan held Israel accountable for repercussions of what was happening in Jerusalem.

"The flame ball will roll and get bigger until it explodes in the face of the Israeli occupation, if it continues the aggression against al-Aqsa," he said.

Radwan called upon the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to stop the security coordination with Israel and exercise more efforts to achieve the national Palestinian unity based on the "armed" path.

The Hamas leader called upon the Arab and Islamic nation to support al-Aqsa mosque and stop any form of normalization with Israel.

The Islamic Jihad leader Khalid al-Batsh said that the Arab's preoccupation with their internal conflicts is the reason behind Israel's ability to "move forward with its plans to impose temporal and spatial division of al-Aqsa mosque compound."

"There is a need for a practical and immediate action to support al-Aqsa and Palestine," al-Batsh said, urging an escalation of West Bank attacks against Israel.

Violent clashes erupted in the yards of al-Aqsa mosque between the Israeli police and tens of Palestinian worshipers for three days in the week that coincided with the Jewish new year.

Palestinians fear that the Jewish holidays, continuing till early October, would see large numbers of religious Jews entering al-Aqsa compound, warning of Israeli schemes to restrict the access of Palestinian Muslims into their holy site, contrary to the status quo. Endit