Posted on 04/23/22
| News Source: Arutz-7
Clashes broke out on Friday on the Har HaBayis, after around 200 Arab rioters began throwing stones at security forces, as well as towards the Kotel.
Police officers responded by entering the site and using stun grenades and riot dispersal methods. Masked individuals fired explosives towards the police officers, and one of which hit a tree and set it on fire.
One female police officer suffered light injuries from the stone-throwing and was evacuated to the hospital.
Later, and in light of the clashes, Israel Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai arrived at the Old City and held a situational assessment with the district commanders and department heads. Reserve forces from the Border Police were ordered to ready themselves for immediate call-up.
According to Israel Police, "At around 4:00a.m., during the Fajar prayers, hundreds of lawbreakers and disrupters of order, some of them masked and with Hamas flags, began a mass disruption of order on the Temple Mount, including preparing fortifications, throwing stones, and shooting explosives. Despite the rock-throwing, police waited for the end of the prayers and for the worshipers to disperse. After the disrupters of order continued massive stone-throwing and the violent riots continued and increased, including towards the Western Wall while prayers were taking place at the site, police forces were forced to use methods to disperse the disruptions of order and to push the crowd back."