At least 67 Palestinians injured after clashes erupt at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque
Israeli security forces entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem before dawn on Friday as thousands of Palestinians were gathered for prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.
The resulting clashes wounded at least 67 Palestinians, medical teams on the scene said.
Israel said its forces entered to remove rocks and stones that had been gathered in anticipation of violence.
The clashes come at a particularly sensitive time. Ramadan this year coincides with Passover, a major weeklong Jewish holiday beginning Friday at sundown, and Christian holy week, which culminates on Easter Sunday.
The holidays are expected to bring tens of thousands of faithful into Jerusalem's Old City, home to major sites sacred to all three religions.
Videos circulating online showed police firing tear gas and stun grenades and Palestinians hurling rocks and fireworks on the sprawling esplanade surrounding the mosque.
Others showed worshippers barricading themselves inside the mosque itself amid what appeared to be clouds of tear gas.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it evacuated 67 people to hospitals who had been wounded by rubber-coated bullets or stun grenades or beaten with batons.
The endowment said one of the guards at the site was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.
The Israeli police said three officers were wounded as a result of “massive stone-throwing”, with two evacuated from the scene for treatment.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said dozens of masked men carrying Palestinian and Hamas flags marched to the compound early Friday and gathered stones.
“Police were forced to enter the grounds to disperse the crowd and remove the stones and rocks, in order to prevent further violence,” it tweeted.
The police said they waited
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