Despite the apocalyptic forecasts, Ramadan passed relatively peacefully in Jerusalem. Until it overlapped with the day before Pessah, the Jewish Passover. On Thursday morning, the Israeli police broke into the Al-Aqsa mosque, claiming that a group of "agitators" had erected barricades inside and had piled up fireworks, sticks and stones.
Images of the anti-riots fighting hard inside the esplanade of the Mosques quickly circulated on social networks, and the spark spread to Gaza. The assault on Al-Aqsa culminated in 12 injuries and more than 350 arrests. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israeli forces prevented the access of ambulances, which were trying to help parishioners who had inhaled tear gas.
Hours later, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired 16 rockets at Israeli border communities in the Gaza Strip, with one hitting a factory in Sderot. The rest of the projectiles were intercepted by the batteries of the Iron Dome system or fell on open ground. An Israeli was injured while running to the shelter.
In response to the missiles fired from Gaza, Israeli fighter jets bombed, according to the official statement, a Hamas weapons factory and warehouse. Before seven in the morning, Palestinian factions launched another salvo of missiles.
The escalation of violence in recent months in the West Bank, with recurring Israeli military incursions and attacks by Palestinian armed cells, foreshadowed that the violence would spread to Jerusalem. During the outburst on Tuesday night, the script of previous years was drawn. Palestinian youths entrenched themselves in the esplanade due to widespread rumors that Jewish religious groups intended to sacrifice an animal there for the beginning of Pessah. As every year, the Israeli police arrested an individual - a member of a Jewish messianic group that aims to restore the Jerusalem temple - who was carrying a goat in his car and headed to the esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest place in islam The current status quo allows Jews to visit the site they identify as the Temple Mount, but they are prohibited from praying there. However, in recent times some Jews secretly promote rituals and even raise the Israeli flag there. The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, reaffirmed his commitment to reverse "discrimination". "The Temple Mount is not just for the Arabs, it is the most important place for the State of Israel. We will not give up", said the radical minister.
The analyst Mohamed Shehada considered that the Israeli police "opened the ground for the Israeli extremists to claim their control over the occupied site during Passover". The police have been arresting worshipers who remain in the mosque to pray for several nights.
Hamas denounced what had happened as "an unprecedented crime", and urged Palestinians in the West Bank to "attend en masse to defend Al-Aqsa". The Israeli security establishment is demanding a halt to an escalation of hostilities during the Jewish Passover. "Israel is working to maintain the status quo and calm spirits," declared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
