Israeli forces violently storm al-Aqsa Mosque

Usman Ghani

Tensions in Jerusalem had soared in recent days in advance of the now-delayed Israeli court ruling; on whether authorities can evict dozens of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and give their homes to Jewish settlers. On Sunday afternoon, in light of the tensions and after a request from the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, the supreme court agreed to delay the hearing. It said it should be held within a month.

In East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City, Palestinians feel an increasing threat from settlers who have sought to expand the Jewish presence there through buying homes, constructing new buildings, and court-ordered evictions, such as the case in Sheikh Jarrah.

Under Israeli law, Jews who can prove a title from before the 1948 war; that accompanied the country’s creation can claim back their Jerusalem properties. Hundreds of thousands of Arabs were displaced in the same conflict; no similar law exists for Palestinians who lost their homes in the city.

Israeli Forces Storm Al Aqsa

Tensions in the city were particularly high as Israel was marking “Jerusalem Day”; its annual celebration of the capture of East Jerusalem; the walled Old City that is home to Muslim, Jewish, and Christian holy places, in a 1967 war.

Israeli police storm the Al-Aqsa compound in the early hours of Monday with heavy tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets firing at worshippers in the complex and inside Mosque spaces.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said hundreds of Palestinians have been wounded; adding its medical teams were prevented from accessing the scene of the violence. At least 50 people have been hospitalized.

Meanwhile Palestinian Red Crescent reported that their medical teams are being denied access.

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