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Jerusalem's sacred site again a battleground between Palestinians, Israelis
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Palestinians erupted in anger after prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem on Friday, raining stones down from the wall at the Lion's Gate on the Old City's east side while Israeli security forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas into the compound in an attempt to control them. Several people were injured, including 10 Israeli police officers who were trapped for a time in a police station near the area, CNN's Mike Hanna reported from near the scene. Two Palestinians were killed in the West Bank town of Nablus when Israeli security forces opened fire on a group of Palestinians marching toward a nearby Jewish settlement. Later, Palestinians fired on a Jewish enclave at the biblical patriarch Joseph's Tomb in Nablus.
The incidents marked an eighth straight day of bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, which began on the same site following a visit last week by a controversial Israeli opposition leader. Most of the more than 70 people who have been killed and 1,900 people who have been wounded in the ongoing violence were Palestinians. Israel blocked the borders of the Palestinian areas of the West Bank and Gaza early on Friday, trying to keep larger numbers of Muslims from coming for Friday prayers in east Jerusalem, where the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians began a week ago. The ploy appeared to work: About 3,000 Muslims were reported on the site, far short of the 10,000 to 15,000 worshippers who usually attend prayers there. The closure came just ahead of the Jewish high holiday Yom Kippur. Israeli typically closes the border for major holidays, but Friday's closure fell on a day that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah party and Islamic militant group Hamas had declared a "Day of Rage." Mayhem started after Sharon's visitThe latest round of clashes began after a visit on September 28 by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Old City site, sacred to both Jews and Muslims and the root of the dispute that has kept Israelis and Palestinians from completing a peace accord. Although he told various news agencies, including CNN, that the violence that began after his visit had been pre-planned and had nothing to do with the trip, Sharon declared it his right as a Jew and a citizen of Israel to stand before the Western Wall -- the sole remaining part of the ancient Jewish Temple and the Jews' most holy site. The Palestinians, however, called the trip a provocation and said Sharon "defiled" their sacred sites on the hill, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and as Haram as-Sharif -- Noble Sanctuary -- to Muslims. Two mosques on the mount, Al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock, mark the spot from which tradition holds Islam's Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven. The hawkish Likud Party chairman Sharon is reviled by Arabs after being found indirectly responsible for a 1982 Lebanese Christian massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut. Violence anticipated in GazaEarlier Friday, Palestinian security forces at Al Aqsa rebuffed several hundred protesters when the young Palestinians launched a barrage of stones from the mosque's platform. Some stones landed near the Western Wall, but Israeli security had cleared the area before the rock-throwing began. The border closure kept the numbers down in east Jerusalem, but most of the fighting over the past week has taken place in the West Bank and Gaza territories, and Palestinians are still free to move around in those areas. Angry Palestinians filled the streets of Gaza City on Friday for the funeral of another of their own, slain in a gun battle with Israeli forces at the Jewish settlement near Netzarim a day earlier, their cries of "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!") mingling with automatic weapons fire. CNN's Ben Wedeman described a mass protest, with thousands of mourners waving Palestinian flags and banners condemning Israel marching through the Palestinian city's streets. "What has been routine over the last few days is that by midday, midafternoon, Palestinian youths head toward the Netzarim junction, which is the main flashpoint here in Gaza, where they confront the Israeli forces there," Wedeman said. "It's anybody's guess to know what will happen there. Normally they start throwing stones, the Israelis respond with somewhat heavier munitions and chaos reigns." CNN correspondents Ben Wedeman and Mike Hanna and The Associated Press contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: Arafat and Barak reach agreement to end violence RELATED SITES: Addameer: Palestinian Human Rights Association | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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