Reports:
Israeli occupation forces detained 17 Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, as Israeli authorities continue to impose restrictions on Palestinians seeking to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Earlier on Wednesday, clashes broke out between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli occupation forces at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem amid visits by right-wing Jews.
Israeli forces fired stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets towards worshipers and chased them out of the compound. Three Palestinians were injured during the clashes.
An Israeli police statement said all men under the age of 50 would be prevented from entering the mosque.Though the statement said women would be allowed into the compound, witnesses said all women were denied entry as well.
Late Wednesday, clashes continued in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of al-Issawiya, Jabal al-Mukaber, and alleyways of the Old City.
Seven Palestinians were injured in al-Issawiya as Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades.
Four children were detained for allegedly throwing stones.
In Jabal al-Mukaber, Israeli forces detained Islam Ayman Salim Ewisat, 12, and another unidentified youth.
In the Old City, police detained five teenagers.
Earlier, police detained seven Palestinians during a sit-in protest in Wadi al-Joz.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces restricted the entry of Palestinian worshipers into Al-Aqsa Mosque while allowing dozens of Zionist settlers in.
An eyewitness said that the Israeli police restricted the entry of Palestinians into the compound, forcing dozens to perform the dawn prayers on the streets outside the complex.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon voiced concern over what he described as “provocations” in occupied Jerusalem Monday, hours after clashes erupted between Israeli police and Palestinian worshipers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Speaking to a press conference in Ramallah with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Ban said he was “deeply concerned by repeated provocations at the holy sites in Jerusalem. These only inflame tensions and must stop.”
Last week, over 60 Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under the protection of Israeli police after the latter forcibly removed Muslim worshipers from the holy site, attacking some of them with clubs and injuring dozens.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement condemned the “Israeli aggressions within Al-Aqsa Mosque,” saying that the Israeli occupation forces “are destroying Al-Aqsa gates and injuring dozens of the Palestinian worshipers without fear or shame.”
Hezbollah also slammed “Arab silence” and “international complicity” and accused Israel of “destroying” the mosque in the hope of replacing it with “their alleged temple.”
The resistance group called on “directing all efforts to protect Al-Aqsa and the Islamic and Christian holly sites.”
In recent months, groups of extremist Zionist settlers, often accompanied by Israeli security forces, have repeatedly forced their way into the Al-Aqsa complex.
In September, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound after dozens of Zionist settlers– led by two government ministers and backed by Israeli police – forced their way into the holy compound.
Moreover, Israeli army radio announced late September that the ministry of tourism was working on a plan to allow Jews to enter the Al-Aqsa compound through the Cotton Merchants Gate, in addition to the Moroccan Gate which is already used as an entrance for non-Muslims.
The announcement was greeted with strong backlash from Palestinians.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli leader Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the “Second Intifada,” a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.