Watch: Israeli Special Forces Target Journalists During Mosque Compound Raid
Hind Hassan and Greg Walters VICE
Hundreds of Palestinians have been detained at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the past few days (photo: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP) Watch: Israeli Special Forces Target Journalists During Mosque Compound Raid
Hind Hassan and Greg Walters VICE
It’s the second time the Al-Aqsa Mosque was raided by police during this year’s Ramadan holiday.
Video captured by VICE World News shows Israeli special forces storming the grounds of the mosque in Jerusalem and firing rubber bullets and sound grenades at a group of journalists, injuring at least two Palestinians.
Today’s scene inside the grounds of Al Aqsa, Jerusalem. Two of the journalists in this video were hit with rubber bullets. They were both Palestinian. Everyone clearly identified themselves to Israeli special forces as journalists in English, Arabic and Hebrew. @VICENews pic.twitter.com/dvJVwVzHVz
— Hind Hassan (@HindHassanNews) April 22, 2022
Earlier in the morning, some Palestinians threw stones in the direction of Israeli forces. Protesters were angered by previous days’ events, when ultra-far-right Israeli nationalists were escorted onto the grounds of the mosque—one of the holiest sites for Muslims in the world—during the Islamic month of Ramadan.
The event marked the latest of several incursions in the past week by Israeli police into the grounds of the Al-Aqsa mosque, which is known to Jews as Temple Mount and is sacred in both Islam and Judaism. Hundreds of Palestinians were wounded and detained.
At least 31 Palestinians have been injured in today’s confrontation in Jerusalem. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service, 14 Palestinians were taken to the hospital, two with serious injuries.
Israeli police said that one police officer had been injured after being hit by a stone.
Alaqsa compound has been tear gassed I’m surrounded by crying women and children who can’t see, immobilised and coughing
— Hind Hassan (@HindHassanNews) April 22, 2022
VICE World News also witnessed Palestinians, including women and children, being tear-gassed when an Israeli drone dropped multiple canisters from the air.
These drones were first used by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza in 2018 but have since been authorized for wider use in the West Bank and Jerusalem. This is the first time a drone has been used to drop tear gas on crowds in the Al-Aqsa grounds.