Clashes resume at Temple Mount after Friday afternoon prayers for Ramadan
Clashes resumed at the Temple Mount following Friday afternoon prayers for Ramadan, hours after Palestinians skirmished with Israeli police at the flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Tens of thousands of worshipers took part in the main prayers for the third Friday start of the Muslim holy month. There were no official turnout figures, but some Hebrew media reports estimated as many as 90,000 worshipers attended.
Many in attendance waved Palestinian and Hamas flags and chanted slogans in favor of the Gaza-ruling terror group, which called for a “mobilization” ahead of the prayers.
“We are the men of Muhammed Deif,” they chanted, referring to the head of Hamas’s military wing.
They also shouted about a seventh-century battle in which Muslim forces massacred and expelled Jews from the Arabian Peninsula town of Khaybar. Another chant included calls to violently “redeem Al-Aqsa,” the mosque atop the Temple Mount.
Video later showed a police drone dropping tear gas atop the Temple Mount to disperse a crowd.
Police drone seen deploying tear gas on the Temple Mount pic.twitter.com/1cUSu96D6J
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 22, 2022
There were conflict reports on what prompted the police action, which the Kan public broadcaster said was in response to the brandishing of Hamas flags and calls for incitement. Other reports, however, said the tear gas was used after masked Palestinians threw rocks at a police post on the Temple Mount.
There was no immediate statement from police.
Among those at the prayers were Palestinians from the West Bank, who were allowed to visit the Temple Mount subject to restrictions put in place for Ramadan despite a military closure for the end of Passover.
Agencies contributed to this report.