Occupied Jerusalem: Israel occupation police used force on Palestinians protesting Jewish raids at the Muslim holy site of Al Haram Al Sharif, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The group said it took seven Palestinians to an occupied east Jerusalem hospital for treatment of injuries from bullets, tear gas and beatings.
Israeli occupation soldiers arrested four Palestinian youths defending the mosque. Jews are allowed to visit Al Haram Al Sharif which houses the Al Aqsa Mosque, but not perform religious rituals there, according to a long-standing status quo agreement. Attempts by Israel’s regime to change the status quo have led to escalating violence and tensions which claimed the lives of over 200 Palestinians and over 30 Israelis.
Israel’s regime took over Al Haram Al Sharif and the entire eastern part of Jerusalem and annexed it during the 1967 Mideast war, but left the Jordanian Waqr Department to administer and run the Muslim holy sites in a historic status-quo agreement which governs access to the holy shrine.
Ongoing incursions by Jews on Al Haram Al Sharif premises have been the largest instigator of violence since last year. Palestinians say the Israeli regime is encouraging its citizens to violate the status quo agreement in an effort to change the facts on the ground and erase all Palestinian and Muslim identity from occupied Jerusalem.
Al Haram Al Sharif is built on top of the ancient remnants of the Temple Mount, a site sacred in Judaism, but was destroyed in the 4th century by the Romans, during their rule.
Al Haram Al Sharif site houses both Al Aqsa Mosque which was originally commissioned to be built under Omar, the second Caliph in Islam in the 7th century, and the Dome of the Rock which houses the rock from which Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) ascended to heaven, according to Islamic teachings.
