RAMALLAH: Tensions were rising in the Palestinian territories on Wednesday after Israeli police stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque at dawn, severely beating and arresting dozens of worshippers.
Officers reportedly injured about 50 people, destroyed Al-Aqsa Medical Clinic, prevented ambulances from reaching the location to help the injured, and smashed windows and doors at the mosque.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams in Jerusalem dealt with 12 injuries during clashes near the mosque and outside the city walls. Three people were taken to hospital, and 25 people with injuries were arrested and later freed from Israeli detention centers.
Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is the third-holiest site in Islam, after the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Taraweeh prayers are offered there by large numbers of people during Ramadan. However, they face interference from the Israeli military and police.
In another provocative move, there have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the compound as part of the Passover feast that began on Wednesday evening. As a result, many Muslim worshippers remained in the mosque on Tuesday night to pray and to prevent the settlers from following through with their plans.
Israeli authorities decided to completely close the Palestinian Territories until Saturday midnight due to the Passover holiday, so Muslim worshippers remained at the mosque because they would have been unable to return to protect it or pray during those days.
On Wednesday, Israeli police arrested two settlers who intended to enter the mosque’s courtyards to offer a sacrifice for Passover.
Israeli police said they removed more than 350 people from the mosque. They added that they had arrested masked individuals, stone-throwers and individuals suspected of desecrating the mosque.
“We will continue to act against anyone who attempts to violate public order,” the police said.
Jordan, which has custodianship over Al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, called on Israeli authorities to immediately remove the police and special forces from the holy site.
Sinan Al-Majali, the spokesperson for Jordan’s Foreign Ministry, described the crackdown as a “flagrant violation” and urged Israel to abide by international humanitarian law and refrain from all measures aimed at changing the historical status quo.
He warned of the potential consequences of the dangerous escalation and held Israel responsible for the safety of the mosque and worshippers.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Kingdom condemned this “blatant intrusion,” and expressed its “categorical rejection of these practices that undermine peace efforts and contradict international principles and norms in respect of religious sanctities.”
It reaffirmed the Kingdom’s firm stance on supporting all efforts to end the occupation and reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue.
The Islamic Awqaf Department in Jerusalem, which belongs to Jordan, said Israeli police deliberately smashed windows and doors at the mosque in a blatant violation of the site’s sanctity, and appealed to Jordan’s King Abdullah to ensure that such attacks and incursions end.
Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, said that what was happening at the mosque was an “unprecedented crime” that will have consequences.
The Jewish holidays this month coincide with Ramadan, which has caused tensions to rise as thousands of Muslims flock to Al-Aqsa where they face harassment, while Israeli police forces allow dozens of settlers to enter the compound and perform their rituals.
An added complication this time, however, is the presence of extreme right-wing ministers in the recently formed Israeli government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of national security, who declared a few days ago that Al-Aqsa Mosque belonged to Jews, not Muslims.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said what is happening in Jerusalem is a “major crime against the worshippers,” and a process of “Judaization” of Al-Aqsa Mosque is taking place by preventing Muslims from praying in it.
He added that praying at the mosque does not need “permission from the occupation, but rather it is our right.” He said the Israelis have failed to learn from history, given that when they stormed Al-Aqsa in the past it sparked a revolution against the occupation.
The Palestinian presidency said that crossing red lines at holy places would lead to a major escalation.
Kuwait, Iran, Egypt, the Arab League, Qatar, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Turkiye also condemned Israel’s crackdown.
Ahmad Ghuneim, a prominent Fatah leader from East Jerusalem, told Arab News that he believes the aim of the brutal Israeli actions is to remove Muslim worshippers so that they cannot confront Israeli settlers who enter Al-Aqsa during the Jewish Passover.
Tor Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said he was appalled by the images of violence inside the mosque.
“I am disturbed by the apparent beating of Palestinians by Israeli security forces and a large number of arrests,” he added.
“The historical status quo of the holy sites must be upheld, in line with the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The role of the Waqf is vital and it must be empowered to fulfill its crucial duties.”
Israeli police crackdown at Al-Aqsa raises tensions
https://arab.news/5a4gg
Israeli police crackdown at Al-Aqsa raises tensions
- Officers stormed the mosque at dawn, beat and arrested dozens of worshippers, damaged a medical clinic, and blocked ambulances
- There have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the compound as part of the Passover feast that began on Wednesday evening
Israel strikes Yemen’s Sana’a airport, ports and power stations
- Houthis said that multiple air raids targeted an airport, military air base and a power station in Yemen
JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said it struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen on Thursday, including Sana’a International Airport and three ports along the western coast.
Attacks hit Yemen’s Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations as well as military infrastructure in the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Kanatib, Israel’s military added.
The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles toward Israel in what they describe as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Israeli attacks on the airport, Hodeidah and on one power station, were reported by Al Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by the Houthis.
More than a year of Houthi attacks have disrupted international shipping routes, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys that have in turn stoked fears over global inflation.
Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Houthis designated as a terrorist organization.
The UN Security Council is due to meet on Monday over Houthi attacks against Israel, Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Israel’s military failed to intercept a missile from Yemen that fell in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area, injuring 14 people.
Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills
DAMASCUS: Syria’s new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar Assad.
Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria’s largest export during the country’s more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.
“We found a large quantity of captagon, around one million pills,” said a balaclava-wearing member of the security forces, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Osama, and whose khaki uniform bore a “public security” patch.
An AFP journalist saw forces pour fuel over and set fire to a cache of cannabis, the painkiller tramadol, and around 50 bags of pink and yellow captagon pills in a security compound formerly belonging to Assad’s forces in the capital’s Kafr Sousa district.
Captagon has flooded the black market across the region in recent years, with oil-rich Saudi Arabia a major destination.
“The security forces of the new government discovered a drug warehouse as they were inspecting the security quarter,” said another member of the security forces, who identified himself as Hamza.
Authorities destroyed the stocks of alcohol, cannabis, captagon and hashish in order to “protect Syrian society” and “cut off smuggling routes used by Assad family businesses,” he added.
Syria’s new Islamist rulers have yet to spell out their policy on alcohol, which has long been widely available in the country.
Since an Islamist-led rebel alliance toppled Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, Syria’s new authorities have said massive quantities of captagon have been found in former government sites around the country, including security branches.
AFP journalists in Syria have seen fighters from Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) set fire to what they said were stashes of captagon found at facilities once operated by Assad’s forces.
Security force member Hamza confirmed Wednesday that “this is not the first initiative of its kind — the security services, in a number of locations, have found other warehouses... and drug manufacturing sites and destroyed them in the appropriate manner.”
Maher Assad, a military commander and the brother of Bashar Assad, is widely accused of being the power behind the lucrative captagon trade.
Experts believe Syria’s former leader used the threat of drug-fueled unrest to put pressure on Arab governments.
A Saudi delegation met Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday, a source close to the government told AFP, to discuss the “Syria situation and captagon.”
Jordan in recent years has also cracked down on the smuggling of weapons and drugs including captagon along its 375-kilometer (230-mile) border with Syria.
Jordan says 18,000 Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall
AMMAN: About 18,000 Syrians have crossed into their country from Jordan since the government of Bashar Assad was toppled earlier this month, Jordanian authorities said on Thursday.
Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya told state TV channel Al-Mamlaka that “around 18,000 Syrians have returned to their country between the fall of the regime of Bashar Assad on December 8, 2024 until Thursday.”
He said the returnees included 2,300 refugees registered with the United Nations.
Amman says it has hosted about 1.3 million Syrians who fled their country since civil war broke out in 2011, with 650,000 formally registered with the United Nations.
Lebanon hopes for neighborly relations in first message to new Syria government
- Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria’s ousted President Bashar Assad through years of war
- Syria’s new Islamist de-facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders
DUBAI: Lebanon said on Thursday it was looking forward to having the best neighborly relations with Syria, in its first official message to the new administration in Damascus.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib passed the message to his Syrian counterpart, Asaad Hassan Al-Shibani, in a phone call, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said on X.
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah played a major part propping up Syria’s ousted President Bashar Assad through years of war, before bringing its fighters back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel – a redeployment which weakened Syrian government lines.
Under Assad, Hezbollah used Syria to bring in weapons and other military equipment from Iran, through Iraq and Syria and into Lebanon. But on Dec. 6, anti-Assad fighters seized the border with Iraq and cut off that route, and two days later, Islamist militants captured the capital Damascus.
Syria’s new Islamist de-facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa is seeking to establish relations with Arab and Western leaders after toppling Assad.
Iraqi intelligence chief discusses border security with new Syrian administration
BAGHDAD: An Iraqi delegation met with Syria’s new rulers in Damascus on Thursday, an Iraqi government spokesman said, the latest diplomatic outreach more than two weeks after the fall of Bashar Assad’s rule.
The delegation, led by Iraqi intelligence chief Hamid Al-Shatri, “met with the new Syrian administration,” government spokesman Bassem Al-Awadi told state media, adding that the parties discussed “the developments in the Syrian arena, and security and stability needs on the two countries’ shared border.”
