VIDEO: Israeli police assault Palestinians at Al Aqsa Mosque courtyards, several injured
An elderly man is being treated by medics at Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Israeli police have assaulted scores of Palestinians at Al Aqsa Mosque courtyards on Monday, leaving some with serious injuries.
Palestinian media reported that hundreds of settlers stormed Al Aqsa Square from the Mughrabi Gate, with strict protection from the Israeli forces, in the form of groups, each of which includes 50 settlers, and performed Talmudic rituals and carried out provocative tours in the mosque’s courtyards.
Local sources reported that the forces attacked the people in the courtyards of the mosque, injuring two of them, and arrested five others, and expelled dozens from Al Aqsa.
The forces also assaulted Palestinian women in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa mosque.
Sources added that the soldiers climbed the roof of the tribal prayer hall in the mosque, and also launched a drone in the sky of the mosque to monitor the movement of the worshippers.
The police imposed strict restrictions on the entry of Palestinians to Al-Aqsa Mosque, checked their identities, and detained some of them at gates.
The forces repeated their attacks against journalists outside the gates of Al-Aqsa, more than once, obstructing their work, preventing them from covering the events, and forcing them to leave the place after preventing them from entering the courtyards.
On the other hand, relatives pushed back against Israeli claims that a Palestinian teacher intentionally rammed an Israeli police car before he was shot dead by security forces.
The family of 36-year-old Mohammed Abu Kafieh said he had no possible reason to carry out an attack, noting that he was a father of three and had just opened a new business.
His relatives said they believe he accidentally crashed into a police car on Saturday before troops opened fire.
"He is not the kind of man that commits attacks,” said Abu Kafieh’s cousin, Mohammed Nimer.
The army has said soldiers spotted a car attempting to ram them and then shot Abu Kafieh.
