AFP, JERUSALEM: Clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday, with further trouble feared in the week ahead as Jews celebrate the Sukkot holiday.
After brief clashes on Sunday, the last day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, Palestinian protesters prepared “to defend” the mosque during the eight-day Jewish festival, stocking stones inside the shrine and planning to sleep in it. The Sukkot holiday beginning Sunday evening is expected to lead to an increase in Jewish visitors to the Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
In Sunday’s disturbances, young masked Palestinians “threw stones and fireworks at police and border police forces,” who responded with “riot dispersal means”, police said.