Hundreds of Palestinians have gone into lockdown in the Al Aqsa Mosque, in the Esplanade of the Mosques of Jerusalem, and refuse to leave the place in the middle of Ramadan, which could lead to serious clashes with Israeli forces. Police entered the area shortly after the Palestinians locked themselves inside the mosque while the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the country formally in charge of the Muslim holy sites of Jerusalem – has warned of “catastrophic consequences” if agents break into Al Aqsa to evict the Palestinians.

Haman has warned that an eviction would cause “more tension and violence and everyone would pay the price“. For his part, a spokesman for Hamas, Mohamed Hamadé, has warned that “the aggression of the occupation will only have as a response the resistance and resistance it is ready to respond to the crimes of the occupation in proportion to the scope of the crime”. Hamadé has pointed out to the Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, and “his Government” that “they will have full responsibility for what happens in the Mosque of Al Aqsa and those who are inside”. “Al Aqsa is a red line and attacking it is triggering the detonators that will begin to explode in the face and flanks of the occupation”, he has threatened.

Last week there were already serious clashes between Muslim faithful and the Israeli Police when dozens of Palestinians locked themselves in the Al Aqsa Mosque on the eve of the Jewish Passover. The Police burst in with stun grenades and the entrenched responded with fireworks and stones. Dozens of Palestinians were injured and detained. Shortly after, ten rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory and in the following two days there were rocket fires from Gaza and also from Lebanonto which Israel responded with bombardments.

Israel attacks with artillery and drones

The Israeli Army has reported the use of artillery and drones during the early hours of this Sunday against the Syrian Golan Heights controlled militarily by Israel. The Israeli attacks are concentrated in the places from where the projectiles have been launched, as confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces on its Twitter account. At least three missiles have hit Israeli territory, although no damage has been reported. The two waves of bombardments have consisted of three missiles each, and only one of them -belonging to the second attack- has been intercepted by the anti-aircraft system known as the Iron Dome, a system of radars and surface-to-air missiles designed to intercept this type of attacks directed against populated populations. The Golan Heights authorities have ordered the opening of the air raid shelters and they have asked the population to address them.