Israeli forces storm Al-Aqsa Mosque following evening prayers

Israeli forces stormed Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday night for a second time, after brutally attacking worshippers earlier in the day, as a Palestinian boy was shot and injured by a settler elsewhere in occupied East Jerusalem.

The Israeli security forces entered the mosque after Taraweeh prayers, which are held in the evening in Ramadan, and attacked worshippers with sound bombs and rubber bullets before expelling them, The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

The Israeli forces physically attacked worshippers, leading to clashes.

Video shared on Twitter showed dozens of Israeli troops inside the mosque, which is the third most holy site in Islam.

#عاجل |قوات الاحتلال تواصل اخلاء المصلى القبلي في هذه اللحظات من المعتكفين والمصلين.#الاقصى_يستغيث #الأقصى_في_خطر pic.twitter.com/mnhXoK5W3n

— شبكة المقدسي للإعلام (@almakdseymedia) April 5, 2023

Eyewitnesses said that a number of Palestinians were injured and then taken for treatment by local ambulances.

Some of the worshippers were attacked by Israeli troops after they left the mosque.

In the earlier attack on Wednesday hundreds of Palestinians were detained and injured by the Israeli forces.

Israeli forces have deployed in force in the Old City of Jerusalem and around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as Palestinians mark the holy month of Ramadan.

On Wednesday night approximately 20,000 worshippers took part in Taraweeh prayers in the mosque.

Since the beginning of Ramadan, Israeli troops have tried to stop Palestinian worshippers from spending nights inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in a religious practice known as itikaaf.

Also on Wednesday evening, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and injured by a settler in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa mosque was located.

An eyewitness told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a shot was heard in the area and when local people went out to investigate they found that the teenage boy had been shot by an Israeli settler in his hand.

Fighting then broke out between the local people and Israeli forces. Israel has occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.