Israeli police have raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, injuring at least 90 Palestinians on Friday.
The Islamic endowment that runs the site said Israeli police entered in force before dawn on Friday, as thousands of worshippers were gathered at the mosque for early morning prayers.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it evacuated the majority of the wounded to hospitals. The endowment said one of the guards at the site was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet.
The Palestinian Red Crescent added that Israeli forces had hindered the arrival of ambulances and paramedics from reaching the mosque, as Palestinian media said that dozens of injured worshippers remained trapped inside the compound.
Israeli police said they entered the compound, the third holiest site in Islam and revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, to break up a “violent” crowd that remained at the end of the morning prayers.
They said they went in “to disperse and push back” the crowd after a group of Palestinians began throwing rocks towards the nearby Jewish prayer space of the Western Wall.
Al Jazeera’s Najwan al-Samri said Israeli police forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound without pretext and assaulted worshipers near the Qibly prayer hall following the morning prayer.
