The White House said it was “extremely concerned”, calling on “all parties to avoid further escalation”, as two new rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Wednesday evening.
International condemnations are increasing this Wednesday after violence in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, where the Israeli police intervened to dislodge Palestinian worshipers, in the middle of the religious holiday season.
Decked out in riot gear, Israeli police entered the mosque, one of the world’s most iconic Muslim places of worship, overnight Tuesday-Wednesday and arrested more than 350 people who had barricaded themselves there, called “rioters.”
UN chief ‘shocked and appalled’
This comes as Muslims have reached the middle of the month of Ramadan and Jews have been celebrating Passover since Wednesday evening, in a particularly tense atmosphere between Israelis and Palestinians since the beginning of the year.
The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, said he was “shocked and dismayed” by the “violence and beatings” of the Israeli security forces, according to his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
Saying he was “dismayed” by the images of violence in Al-Aqsa, the UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, also considered that the “blind rocket attacks” were “unacceptable”.
The third holiest site in Islam, the Esplanade des Mosques is also the holiest site for Jews, who call it “Temple Mount”. It is located in East Jerusalem, a Palestinian area occupied and annexed by Israel, and its surroundings are heavily guarded by the Israeli police.
