By Gulsen Topcu
JERUSALEM (AA): The number injured rose to 205 in Israeli attacks late Friday at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Damascus Gate of the Old City and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Eighty-eight were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem, while others were treated as outpatients, said a statement.
Most of the injuries were caused by rubber bullets fired by Israeli police, it added.
Palestine Red Crescent established a field hospital in the region because of a lack of beds at hospitals.
Israeli police attempted to disperse worshippers inside the Haram al-Sharif area of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, using stun grenades and gas bombs.
[Israeli police attack Muslim worshippers with stun grenades and plastic bullets in Haram al-Sharif area of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, on May 7, 2021 in East Jerusalem. Photographer: Mostafa Alkharouf/ Anadolu Agency]
Police attacked Muslim worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque while worshippers were performing tarawih — special night prayers — during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
A group of Israeli settlers broke into an iftar [breaking of fast] organized by Palestinian families facing eviction in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, injuring many.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara
[Photo: An injured Palestinian is being taken to the hospital after injured by Israeli police with stun grenades and plastic bullets in Haram al-Sharif area of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday, on May 7, 2021 in East Jerusalem. Photographer: Mostafa Alkharouf/AA]
