Palestinian party 'suspends' itself from Israel government over Al-Aqsa violence

The Palestinian Raam party on Sunday "suspended" its participation in Israel's coalition government, led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, after Israeli forces twice raided occupied East Jerusalem's holy Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Bennett took office last June after painstaking efforts to cobble together a coalition able to topple Israel's longest-serving premier Benjamin Netanyahu, creating a razor-thin majority of 61 seats in the 120-seat Knesset.

But the government lost that majority earlier this month when a hard-right Knesset member quit over a government decision to authorise the distribution of leavened bread in hospitals during Passover, in line with a recent supreme court ruling reversing years of prohibition.

The coalition, a mix of left-of-centre, hardline Jewish nationalist and religious parties as well as Raam, has deep ideological divides. It now has 60 seats - the same as the opposition.

On Sunday evening, Raam - which has four seats in Bennett's coalition - said it was "suspending" its support, two days after Israeli forces attacked Palestinians at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, leaving 150 people wounded.

Israeli forces again attacked Palestinians at Al-Aqsa on Sunday, leaving 31 people injured in and around the third-holiest site in Islam.

"If the government continues its steps against the people of Jerusalem… we will resign as a bloc," Raam said in a statement.

The party's withdrawal from Bennett's administration will not immediately impact the government, as the Knesset is in recess until 5 May.

Sources told AFP that Bennett would seek to calm the situation.

Bennett's coalition can rule with 60 seats, although with difficulty in passing new legislation.

But if another member leaves the coalition, the Knesset could hold a vote of no confidence and lead Israel back to the polls for a fifth parliamentary election in four years.