After days of violence, Jerusalem prayers end peacefully

After days of tension at the hotspot Jerusalem location that resulted in cross-border fire exchanges, Ramadan prayers and Jewish Passover visits to the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex went off without a hitch on Sunday.

Thousands of worshipers gathered at the Western Wall below for the Passover holiday’s unique “Priestly Blessing,” while small groups of Jewish tourists were walking into the mosque complex, known in Judaism as Temple Mount, while they were heavily policed.

Sacred to both Muslims and Jews, the Al-Aqsa complex has been the focus of a security crisis that began last week when Israeli police entered the mosque to free young people they said were besieged inside with rocks and pyrotechnics.

Video of the assault, which showed police beating worshipers, incited an angry response across the Arab world. As a result, Palestinian groups began firing rockets into Israel, which Israel responded to by attacking targets in Gaza, south Lebanon, and Syria.

There were no casualty reports.

According to a statement released on Sunday, Palestinian Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Hezbollah commander Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon to discuss the events at Al-Aqsa.

According to Israeli security analysts, Iran-backed Hezbollah undoubtedly provided Islamist Hamas authorization to launch missiles from Lebanon.

Conflicts with Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Old City result in tension.

[1/5] In the midst of hostilities in Jerusalem’s Old City on April 9, 2023, an Israeli security officer keeps watch at the complex housing Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. Ammar Awad for Reuters fewer books

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is dealing with unprecedented domestic demonstrations over judicial reforms, stated in a statement that “our adversaries were incorrect when they imagined that Israel’s population were not united in support for the IDF (Israel Defence Forces).

“All fronts should unify and oppose the escalation of the arrogant (Israeli) occupation,” a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, Hazem Qassem, said.