Israeli Occupation Soldiers and Fanatic Settlers Attack Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Silwan

Clashes Continue As Israeli Minister Participates In Al-Aqsa Mosque Invasion

Sunday September 13, 2015 11:36 by IMEMC News

Israeli occupation government minister of agriculture, Uri Ariel, joined dozens of Israeli extremists who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, Sunday, under extensive military and police presence, leading to clashes and dozens of injuries among the worshipers.

The Israeli occupation soldiers attacked the guards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and dozens of worshipers and students, including many children, and forced them out.

The Palestinian TV said the army used excessive force against the Palestinian Muslim worshipers, fired gas bombs and concussion grenades on them, and occupied the rooftop of the Al-Qibli Mosque of Al-Aqsa.

The soldiers also chased dozens of residents in the mosque, and engaged in fistfights with many young Palestinians.

The Palestinian Waqf and Islamic Endowment Department said the soldiers imposed a strict siege on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, since late night hours, and installed iron barriers to prevent the Palestinians from entering.

Dozens of Palestinians have also been injured after the soldiers sprayed them with pepper-spray, in addition to throwing concussion grenades and sound bombs the Palestinians, while many others have been injured by Israeli rubber-coated metal bullets, in addition to scores who were beaten by the soldiers.

The Palestinian TV said dozens of Palestinians were also injured, not only in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but also in various Palestinian neighborhoods in the occupied Old City, after the soldiers used excessive force against them, while allowing Israeli fanatics to continue their provocative tours and invasions into the Al-Aqsa courtyards.

Many wounded Palestinians received first aid by the medics of the local clinic in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the army prevented Palestinian medics and ambulances even from approaching it.

Arab Member of Knesset, Dr. Ahmad Tibi, who was in the mosque compound during the attack, said Israel is implementing its recent decision to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He added this division is done physically, and by allotting certain hours every day only specified for Jewish settlers , after removing all Palestinian worshipers from the entire area.

Dr. Tibi also stated that he and many other Arab members of Knesset, social and religious figures, personally witnessed how the Palestinians were completely removed from the mosque and its courtyards, before the police started allowing dozens of Israeli fanatics into it.

The official said the Palestinians would continue to protest and reject all Israeli assaults against the mosque, and will continue their protests to defend the holy sites in Palestine.

All Palestinian worshipers have been forcibly removed from the mosque and its surrounding areas, amidst escalating provocative tours and attacks by Israeli fanatics and officials, causing more tension and clashes.

In addition, Dr. Tibi said the Palestinians reject the Israeli decision to divide of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and will continue to resist it.

The official stated the decision came as a result of years of planning by consecutive Israeli government, the same way they divided the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron.

He added that the current right-wing Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu has one of the most fanatic and extremist elements, and wants to prove to all right-wing parties it was successful in dividing the mosque.

A wave of violent clashes flared up at and around Muslims' holy al-Aqsa Mosque after the Israeli occupation army stormed Jerusalem’s Old city and cordoned off the plazas of the Mosque.

The Israeli occupation troops denied Muslim men and women, below the age of 50, along with Muslim learners and supervision staff, the right to enter the Mosque.

According to the Jerusalem Media Center, peaceful Muslim sit-inners choked on tear gas after Israeli troops broke into the Qibli Mosque and unleashed heavy barrages of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.

Fire burst out in the southern part of the Qibli Mosque, the sources added.

A number of Muslim Palestinians from Occupied Jerusalem have maintained sit-in vigils around the al-Aqsa Mosque since the early morning hours.

Illegal Jewish settlers assault Palestinians in Silwan district

A horde of illegal Jewish settlers last Friday attacked under police protection Palestinian citizens in Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque, which led to the outbreak of violent clashes between the two sides.

Eyewitnesses reported that one of the settlers physically assaulted a Palestinian child from Abu Quwaider family in Silwan, which triggered a hand-to-hand fight between a group of settlers and Palestinian citizens.

They added that two Palestinians were rushed to hospital for treatment when settlers sprayed pepper gas directly at them during the brawl.

Later, the events escalated when Israeli policemen intervened to protect the settlers and indiscriminately showered the angry citizens with tear gas and stun grenades.

Consequently, several Palestinians suffered from inhaling tear gas and received on-site medical treatment from Red Crescent paramedics, according to the eyewitnesses.

In a separate incident, violent clashes broke out on the same day between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian young men in Attur neighborhood east of Jerusalem.

Local sources said that an Israeli police patrol was attacked with Molotov cocktails on the main street of Attur neighborhood.

They added that police reinforcement were sent to the area and embarked on attacking citizens on the main streets and firing a hail of tear gas and stun grenades at them, which caused some of them to suffer from suffocation.

Israeli settlers on Sunday morning vandalized al-Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil and cracked down on the Palestinian natives around the Old City under the religious pretext.

Local sources said hundreds of Israeli settlers have been storming the Ibrahimi Mosque since the early morning hours.

Meanwhile, Muslim worshipers have been denied the right to enter the holy place of worship, where heavily-armed Israeli troops have been deployed.

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up six Palestinian citizens in the West Bank on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The Israeli army radio said that the IOF troops arrested two Palestinians near a settlement in Ramallah on Sunday morning.

The broadcast claimed that the two men were trying to break into the settlement, adding that they were equipped with knives.

Four other Palestinians were kidnapped in different West Bank areas on suspicion of participating in what the radio described as “acts of sabotage”.

Palestinian official statistics indicate that more than 6,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli occupation jails.

A group of Palestinian resistance fighters engaged in an exchange of fire with Israeli occupation forces (IOF) near the Gaza borders on Sunday morning.

Media and field sources told the PIC reporter that the clashes started after members of the so-called “Field Control” units were chasing two men while trying to infiltrate the borders into the Israeli side to the east of Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.

They added that the resistance elements fired shots in the air to deter the two men but they kept running until they crossed the borders and IOF soldiers deployed in the area fired at the resistance fighters and summoned reinforcements.

No casualties were reported among the resistance fighters.

The IOF announced on Saturday that 14 people were arrested after crossing the borders into 1948 occupied Palestine.

Resistance units were trying to check the rising phenomenon fearing some of those citizens might be recruited as agents for the IOF.

The calm agreement signed in Cairo in August 2014 stipulated an end to all Israeli violations in Gaza including shooting at civilians and resistance fighters.

Gaza Power Plant (GPP) halted one of its power generators and re-applied the Gaza Strip' electricity schedule of 6 hours supply and 12 hours blackout due to lack of fuel.

The electricity distribution company said in a statement that the GPP was forced on Saturday in coordination with the Palestinian Energy Authority to stop a generator in its plant due to the lack of diesel enough to run that generator because of the Israeli closure of the crossing points which prevents the entry of sufficient amounts of industrial diesel.

The company added that the power outage coincides with the failure of all Egyptian lines feeding southern areas of the Gaza Strip with diesel, which worsened the electricity crisis.

The company appealed all parties, including the UN and international human rights institutions, to pressure the Israeli occupation in order to allow sufficient quantities of industrial diesel to the power station.

It warned that the insufficient power supply from the three sources (Egypt, Israel and the GPP) will have a dramatic impact on citizens.

Citizens of Rafah, in southern Gaza, staged several mass protests and demonstrations against the crisis of power outages.

Dozens Of Palestinians, Including Children, Injured In Jerusalem

The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said the assailants attacked Zeid Abu Qweider, 8 years of age, in Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, repeatedly beating and kicking him, before a young man noticed the attacked and intervened.

It added that approximately twenty Israeli extremists then assaulted a group of Palestinian children, 5-14 years of age, and sprayed their faces with pepper-spray.

Eyewitnesses told Silwanic that several guards of illegal illegal Israeli settlements in Silwan also invaded the neighborhood, and hurled gas bombs and concussion grenades.

Medical sources said resident Abdullah Abu Naab, 60, and Mahdi Rajabi, 14, suffered burns in their faces and were unable to breathe, before medics arrived at the scene, provided first aid and moved them to the al-Makassed Hospital.

The attack also led scores of injuries, especially among the children, while a pregnant woman was also wounded.

Some of the wounded have been identified as Zeid Abu Qweider, 8, Adam Rajabi, 9, Rahaf Abu Qweider, 5, Odai Rajabi, 12, Hamza Rajabi, 12, Yazan Rajabi 12, Walid ash-Sha’er, 16, Asma’ Rajabi (pregnant in her ninth month), 29, and ‘Adel Tawfiq Gheith, 75 years of age.

In addition, five children and their parents suffered severe effects of gas inhalation after the Israeli guards hurled a gas bomb into their homme.

The oldest of the wounded children is 13, and the youngest is only seven months of age.

Another family, including an infant, also suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, medical sources said.

In addition, clashes took place in Batn al-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan, after a number of Israeli fanatics invaded it, while Israeli soldiers later invaded the area, and declared it a closed military zone.

Furthermore, soldiers attacked dozens of Palestinians in the protest tent in the neighborhood, and hurled gas and concussion grenades on them, before attacking the tent and smashing many chairs.

Many teenagers and children were injured after the soldiers attacked them in Batn al-Hawa; the army also fired several gas bombs at a number of homes, while many soldiers started banging on doors causing anxiety attacks among families, especially the children.

A young man, identified as Saleh Kash’am, suffered various cuts and bruises after the soldiers repeatedly kicked him in the neighborhood.

Clashes also took place in the at-Tour town, after dozens of soldiers invaded it; media sources said local youths hurled a Molotov cocktail that struck one of the invading police vehicles, and that one officer was injured.

The police fired gas bombs, concussion grenades and rubber-coated metal bullets at random, Silwanic said.

Image By Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Silwanic
An injured Palestinian in Silwan