Skip to main content

Clashes As Israeli Soldiers Enter Al-Aqsa Mosque


Clashes have erupted after a number of Israeli soldiers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, police and witnesses said

The Israeli security personnel used tear gas as they entered the compound to arrest what they called Palestinian "stone throwers".


"Masked protesters who were inside the mosque threw stones and fireworks at police," said a police statement carried by AFP news agency.

A Muslim witness accused police of entering the mosque and causing damage, saying prayer mats were partially burned.

Clashes later continued outside the mosque complex, with police firing tear gas and stun grenades.

Israeli security forces closed the mosque's compound to worshippers following the clashes that come just hours before the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for Israeli police, said that the Israeli police received intelligence in the morning about the possible disturbances at Al-Aqsa mosque that would involve explosive devices as well as stones thrown at Jewish visitors.

"…our police officers entered the area, I am talking about the Temple Mount area only, and shut the front doors of the Al-Aqsa mosque to prevent those riots from overflowing onto the Temple Mount area.

"Our police units took the situation under control from 20 to 25 minutes only using stun grenades, non-lethal weapons only to make sure that situation remained calm."

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas condemned what he called an "attack" by Israeli authorities.

"The presidency strongly condemns the attack by the occupier's military and police against the Al-Aqsa mosque and the aggression against the faithful who were there," a statement from his office said.

The disturbances came with tensions running high after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon last week banned two Muslim groups from entering the mosque compound - Islam's third holiest site.

Israel seized East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, in the Six Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.

Source:Aljazeerah

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

State House of Assembly collected bribes from commissioner nominees

An N2.4 million bribery scam is rocking the Delta State House of Assembly. SaharaReporters learned that the Speaker, Monday Igbuya, and other members of the State House of Assembly allegedly collected N200,000 bribes from the twelve commissioner nominees forwarded by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for “screening.” Confiding in a SaharaReporters correspondent, a senior management staff person of the State’s House of Assembly who did not want to be named disclosed that one of the commissioner nominees told him in confidence how the twelve nominees’ arms were twisted to pay N200,000 each. The ultimatum was that without the N200,000 none of them would be cleared by the lawmakers. However, the source said, “If you were around during their screening on the floor of the House, you would have noticed that all the nominees were only told to take a bow” and to go. An aide to one of the commissioners who pleaded anonymity confided in SaharaReporters that the money was definitively give...

EFCC Arrested NAFDAC DG

Two weeks after whistleblowers at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) wrote a powerful petition to President Muhammadu Buhari alleging monumental fraud and waste of funds by its Director-General, Dr. Paul B. Orhii, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday swung into action. Dr. Orhii was grilled for several hours on issues relating to fraud and misappropriation of funds worth billions of naira, a source told SaharaReporters. The petitioners had accused the Director-General of awarding frivolous contracts and supplies; manipulating NAFDAC publicity and donations; international air travel racketeering; and compulsory recertification by bottle and sachet water producers.  The complaint listed 14 companies that are being used in the money games at NAFDAC. An EFCC source said Orhii was granted “administrative bail”...

BUHARI: TURNING APPOINTMENTS INTO DISAPPOINTMENTS

   By Jaafar Jaafar Ponder over this Hausa proverb: “sawun keke ba’a gane gabanka”, which roughly translates to “a bicycle’s contact patch does not tell where it comes from or where it heads to”, and see how it aptly describes Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari. Bearing in mind the current realities in our polity, how would you, in your wildest dream, think the Secretary to the Government of the Federation will come from the North? The very North that has a President, a Senate President, a Speaker, a Head of Service, a Chief of Staff, a Chief Justice, and what not? While Mr. President is likened to the proverbial “sawun keke”, the pigmentation of his appointments may be likened to “birgimar hankaka”, literally meaning the wallow of a pied crow. When a pied crow wallows, the Hausa say, you will see both the white patch on its gullet and the black plumage that covers most of the bird’s body. In the appointment of the GMD of NNPC, President Buhari showed Nigeria...