Israeli Police Raid al-Aqsa Mosque After Four Officers Wounded on Har HaBayis

Israeli troopers entered Yerushalayim’s al-Aqsa mosque and carried out arrests on Friday in what police described as a pursuit of youths who had lobbed rocks and fireworks during clashes with its forces outside.

A police spokesman said the troopers were sent into al-Aqsa after suspects who had barricaded themselves in after running confrontations in the surrounding Har HaBayis compound, during which masked men launched firecrackers from handheld canisters.

Police put the number of Arab arrests at 24, adding that four of its officers were injured in the melee.

In Gaza, medics said a man and a 14-year-old boy were killed and dozens wounded by IDF fire over the weekend.

The IDF said troops opened fire to hold off thousands of Palestinians, some of whom threw rocks and rolled burning tires at the Gaza border fence in attempts to sabotage it.

While several foreign powers have censured Israel’s handling of Gaza, the United States has echoed its blaming of Hamas.

The recent Gaza tensions have also seen cross-border shelling and gunfire exchange. Over the last week, an IDF soldier was killed and another wounded by Gaza snipers.

Israel has lost tracts of farmland and forests to fires set by kites and helium balloons, laden with incendiary material and flown over from Gaza. Israel has responded by preventing the entry of non-essential commercial goods to Gaza.