Shocking chaos as Israeli forces 'storm Islam's third-holiest site' during Ramadan: Soldiers 'fire tear gas and stun grenades and beat worshippers' INSIDE Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque amid rising tensions as Jewish, Muslim and Christian holidays coincide

• e-mail

Israeli forces raided Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City early on Wednesday and attacked Palestinian worshippers, Palestinian media reported, raising fears of wider tension as Islamic and Jewish holidays overlap.

Tensions have been high in east Jerusalem and the West Bank for months, and fears of further violence have been fuelled with the convergence of the Muslim holy fast month of Ramadan and the Passover. 

Such confrontations at the contested holy compound, the third holiest shrine in Islam that is also the most sacred site in Judaism and referred to as the Temple Mount, have sparked deadly cross-border wars between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers in the past, the last of which was in 2021.

Videos on social media purportedly showed Israeli police officers beating Palestinians with batons and rifle butts at the mosque.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that dozens of worshippers, who spend all the night during Ramadan praying, were injured when the police raided the mosque.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the violence. The Israeli police said it used force to evacuate worshippers who were holed up at the mosque with fireworks, rocks, and sticks. They added that an officer's leg was injured by a stone and that dozens of 'rioters' were arrested.

The violence in Jerusalem triggered a wave of protests and condemnations from Palestinians. In Gaza, Hamas called for large protests and people began gathering in the streets, with calls to head for the heavily guarded Gaza-Israel frontier for more violent demonstrations.

Footage appeared to show heavily armed Israeli forces storming the Al-Aqsa mosque in Easy Jerusalem and firing rubber bullets into the Qibli prayer hall

An image on social media appeared to show worshippers with their hands cuffed behind their backs and laying the ground after Israeli forces stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque

On Tuesday, a Palestinian suspect stabbed two Israelis near an army base south of Tel Aviv, police said, in the latest incident in a year-long spate of violence.

The Magen David Adom paramedic service said first responders treated two men for serious and light stab wounds in the incident on a highway near the Tsrifin military base. The men were taken to hospital for treatment.

Israeli media identified the victims as soldiers. Police said that civilians at the scene apprehended the suspected attacker, who was taken into police custody.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged over the last year, as the Israeli military has carried out near-nightly raids on Palestinian cities, towns and villages and as Palestinians have staged numerous attacks against Israelis.

At least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching the mosque.

'I was sitting on a chair reciting [Koran],' an elderly woman told Reuters while sitting outside the mosque, struggling to catch her breath.

'They hurled stun grenades, one of them hit my chest,' she said as she began to cry.

Israeli police said in a statement that it was forced to enter the compound after 'masked agitators' locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones.

'When the police entered, stones were thrown at them and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,' the statement said, adding that a police officer was wounded in the leg.

Muslim worshippers perform Friday prayers outside the Dome of Rock Mosque at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound

Israeli border police near Al-Aqsa compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount

Videos on social media purportedly showed Israeli police officers beating Palestinians with batons and rifle butts at the mosque

Israeli police force people out of the Chain Gate as they raid the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem overnight on Wednesday

Muslims perform a tarawih prayer after breaking their fasts during the holy month of Ramadan at the courtyard of Masjid al-Aqsa compound on Wednesday

Dozens of worshipers were attacked by Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque, witnesses said

Witnesses said Israeli forces attack Palestinian worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

Israeli police force people out of the Chain Gate as they appeared to raid the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

Friction at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jewish people as the Temple Mount, has set off violence in recent years

An Israeli officer holds a riot shield as police force people out of the Chain Gate overnight on Wednesday

There are fears that violence in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank could escalate this month, when the Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincides with Judaism's Passover and Christian Easter.

Palestinian groups condemned Israel's attacks on worshippers, which they said was a crime. 'We warn the occupation against crossing red lines at holy sites, which will lead to a big explosion,' said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

This comes after a top Israeli rabbi moved on Tuesday to prevent Jewish activists from breaking a ban on holding a traditional Passover sacrifice at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem.

The Western Wall is the holiest site where Jews can pray and sits below the mosque compound, which they revere as the Temple Mount.

Palestinian groups condemned Israel's attacks on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque, which they said was a crime 

Friction at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, known to Jewish people as the Temple Mount, has set off violence in recent years

Palestinian groups condemned Israel's attacks on worshippers

Israeli police said in a statement that it was forced to enter the compound after 'masked agitators' locked themselves inside the mosque with fireworks, sticks and stones

The Israeli police said it used force to evacuate worshippers who were holed up at the mosque with fireworks, rocks, and sticks

Israeli border policemen set up a fence near Al-Aqsa, while tension arises during clashes with Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City overnight Wednesday

Passover begins on Wednesday and traditionally sheep and goats are sacrificed on the eve of the Jewish holiday.

In previous years, Jewish activists have tried to smuggle animals into the mosque compound to reenact the sacrifice as described in the Bible.

A statement from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation read: 'Following reports of intent to bring a Passover sacrifice up to the Temple Mount: Rabbi of the Western Wall to prevent bringing animals to the Mughrabi area.' 

Referring to the entrance to the mosque compound used by non-Muslims, the statement continued: 'Under the direction of the rabbi of the Western Wall and holy sites, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, (we) will work to prevent bringing animals to the Mughrabi ramp area.'

The Returning to the Mountain movement, a radical Jewish group, said it will pay 20,000 shekels ($5,570) to anyone who succeeds in the 'holy mission' of carrying out a sacrifice at the compound. The organisation's director was arrested Monday as a preventative measure, Israeli police said.

Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, published a notice on Tuesday barring the faithful from visiting the Al-Aqsa compound because it is 'a severe breach of Jewish law'.

Hamas, which rules Gaza, warned on Monday that permitting Jewish sacrifice in the compound 'would fuel an already explosive situation, for which the Israeli occupation government bears full responsibility'.