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Raids by Israeli police on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the most holy Muslim site in Jerusalem, have triggered a spike in violence that continued to spiral in recent days, drawing several regional actors into a deadly back-and-forth.
Police said they were working to clear men who had barricaded themselves inside the compound midweek, flinging fireworks and rocks, but social media videos of the incursions showed Israeli officers in riot gear chasing and using clubs to beat Palestinians inside the mosque.
Those shocking images of physical violence in turn sparked dozens of missiles fired from southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip against Israeli targets, Israeli retaliatory airstrikes on both territories, and a subsequent pair of attacks Friday on civilians in the occupied West Bank and Tel Aviv, which have left two British-Israeli settlers and an Italian tourist dead. The militant group Hamas has not claimed responsibility for either Friday attack, but instead praised them as valid retaliation for the prior behavior of Israeli police.
On Saturday, Israel announced it would extend a closure on Palestinians entering Israel from the West Bank, and would also suspend special entry permits for Palestinians in Gaza to visit Israel for Ramadan prayers and for work.
