Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa Mosque

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119685&sectionid=351020201


Israeli forces have raided Al-Aqsa holy compound in Jerusalem Al-Quds to crackdown on a number of Palestinian protesters in the area.

Clashes erupted in the holy complex after the Israeli forces raided the area to push out dozens of Palestinian protestors in the mosque ground on Sunday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Police also closed the roads into the Old City of Al-Quds in the occupied part of the city, preventing entry to all Palestinians under the age of 50.

Palestinian protesters responded to the attack by throwing stones. One Palestinian was arrested in the clashes.

The demonstrators reportedly spent the night at the mosque following an announcement by the Israeli settlers to enter the holy site to celebrate the Jewish Holiday of Purim.

Israel occupied East Al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the so-called peace process with the Palestinians, underscoring the reality that any Palestinian state should include the city as its capital.
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Israeli Police Storm Jerusalem Site



Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/02/201022893324135262.html

At least six Palestinians have reportedly been injured after Israeli police forces stormed a holy site in Jerusalem to disperse Muslim worshippers.

Palestinian sources said that Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the worshippers holding protests in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday.

Israel said the situation was calm and denied that rubber bullets had been fired.

Micky Rosenfeld, the Israeli police spokesman, said that the police force dispersed about 20 masked protesters who were inside the compound.

The police said protesters had thrown stones at visitors to the complex.

The area, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as the Temple Mount, has been a frequent flashpoint for conflicts before, with even low-level scuffles escalating into drawn-out battles.

Sherine Tadros, reporting for Al Jazeera from Jerusalem on Sunday, said: "This was all sparked early this morning when - according to the Israeli police - there was a group of tourists entering the Al-Aqsa compound in the Old City.

"They were pelted with rocks by the Palestinian demonstrators [who] decided to keep on with their resistance to the entry of these tourists into the Haram compound.

"That sparked clashes outside and near the area, which has resulted in an escalation ... outside the walls of the Old City."

Reporting later from the scene, our correspondent said: "There's a heavy police presence but it does seem calm now."

A visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli opposition leader and later prime minister, is blamed for igniting deadly clashes that escalated into the popular Palestinian uprising known as Al-Aqsa Intifada.