Why Al-Aqsa mosque is so important to Muslims and Jews — and the site of renewed violence

The Israeli police raid on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday has sparked angry reactions from Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the wider Arab and Muslim world.

Israeli police were filmed beating worshipers during a raid that officials said was to dislodge a group of youths who had barricaded themselves inside a mosque.

The incident – which fell during the holy month of Ramadan and this year coincided with the Jewish holiday of Passover which began on Wednesday evening – prompted a retaliatory rocket fire from the Islamist militant group Hamas from the Gaza Strip, which Israel responded to. air strike.

The international community, including Canada, called for calm at Al-Aqsa, but dozens more rockets from Lebanon were fired Thursday by Hamas, Israel said, adding that many were intercepted.

Here’s a look at why Al-Aqsa is so important, and why it’s a hot spot in an already tense region.

Where and what is Al-Aqsa mosque?

Al-Aqsa is located in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City on a hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or the Temple Mount, and to Muslims internationally as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary.

Muslims consider this site to be the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. Al-Aqsa is the name given to the entire complex and is home to two Muslim holy places: the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque, which was built in the 8th century AD.

The compound faces the Western Wall, the holy place of prayer for Jews, of which the Temple Mount is the holiest site. Jews believe that the biblical King Solomon built the first temple there 3,000 years ago. The second temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Israel seized the site during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it along with the rest of East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank in a move not recognized internationally.

Jordan, whose ruling Hashemite family has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites, appoints members of the Waqf agency to oversee the sites.

Why has it become a flashpoint?

The Al-Aqsa compound has long been a flashpoint for deadly violence over sovereignty and religious issues in Jerusalem.

Under the long-standing “status quo” rules that govern the area, which Israel says, non-Muslims can visit but only Muslims are allowed to worship inside the mosque complex.

Jewish visitors have increasingly prayed more or less openly at the site in defiance of the rules, and Israel’s ban on Muslim worshipers’ access to the site has led to protests and outbreaks of violence.

Clashes at the site in 2021 led to a 10-day war with Gaza.

In 2000, Israeli politician Ariel Sharon, the leader of the opposition, led a group of Israeli parliamentarians to the Temple Mount / al-Haram al-Sharif complex. Palestinians protested, and violent clashes quickly escalated into the second Palestinian uprising, also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada.