About 545 of the Israeli settlers, aided by occupation forces, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday, resulting in the injury of 19 Palestinians, two days after detaining hundreds at the site in another raid at the mosque. The Palestinians Ministry of Awqaf (endowment) and Religious Affairs said in a statement that extremist Jewish groups assaulted and blocked Muslim worshippers inside prayer halls while clearing the way for Israeli settlers to enter the Jerusalem holy site for the Passover holiday. It added dozens of people, including women, were trapped inside the mosque unable to evacuate The Israeli police have entered Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as worshippers gathered for early morning prayers. Israeli authorities said they entered the compound on Sunday to facilitate routine visits by far-right Jews to the holy site and that Palestinians had stockpiled stones and set up barriers in the compound. The police cleared Palestinians out of the sprawling esplanade outside the mosque, while dozens remained inside. Palestinian medical workers said at least 19 people were injured. Three people were transferred to the hospital after being beaten or hit by rubber-coated bullets, according to The Palestinian Red Cross. The organisation said it was prevented from accessing the compound but managed to assist the injured near Bab Al-Asbat. Nine people were arrested, police said, after Palestinians smashed the windows of two buses carrying Jewish visitors to the site, lightly injuring several of them. Tensions had been high after the far-right Jewish group Return to Temple Mount offered a cash prize to anyone who went into Al-Aqsa Mosque and sacrificed a goat – a Jewish religious ritual that is prohibited inside the mosque and that would constitute a further provocation. The Palestinian Authority on Sunday laid the blame on Israel for the consequences of the current tension at Al-Aqsa. "We call on the US administration to break its silence and stop this aggression that will inflame the entire region," authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement carried by state news agency Wafa. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also condemned the Israeli escalation at the flashpoint site. A ministry statement said the Israeli escalation flouted an Arab and Islamic backlash and was "a continuation of [Israeli] plans to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque." Meanwhile, Pope Francis on Sunday called for free access to the holy sites in Jerusalem as he delivered his annual Easter address, which this year coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish festival of Passover. — Agencies
