Israeli Raids on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque Spark Escalation in Gaza and Lebanon
Plus: OPEC+ surprises with million-barrel oil cut, Iran and Saudi Arabia make progress in restoring relations, and two Iranian women arrested after man threw yogurt on them for not wearing hijab.
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Israeli raids on Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque spark escalation in Gaza and Lebanon
Israeli police forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and launched an assault on Palestinian worshippers for two consecutive evenings earlier this week. The attacks occurred on April 4 (Tuesday) and 5 (Wednesday) during the holy month of Ramadan.
More than 350 individuals were inside the mosque, actively participating in the Muslim worship of i'tikaf, which involves remaining within the mosque for a designated duration of ten days.
Stun grenades and tear gas were thrown at those who were inside, as shown in videos that also depict Israeli soldiers beating Palestinians with batons and detaining them while they lay handcuffed on the mosque floor.
Israeli police justified the attack stating that their actions were provoked by "masked agitators" who had locked themselves inside the mosque and were allegedly armed with sticks, rocks, and fireworks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was already facing criticism from a significant portion of the Israeli population over government policies, stated that Israel remained committed to upholding freedom of worship.
The violent incident has raised concerns about further escalation, especially with the anticipated arrival of a large number of ultranationalist Jews who were expected to enter the Al-Aqsa compound to observe the Jewish festival of Passover, which started on Wednesday.
According to a long-standing "status quo" agreement regarding the compound, non-Muslims are permitted to visit, but worship is solely reserved for Muslims. Nevertheless, some Jewish visitors have been observed violating this arrangement by praying at the site with increasing frequency.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 12 Palestinians sustained injuries from rubber-tipped bullets and physical assaults during the initial conflict, while Israeli police reported two officer injuries.
The Jordanian authority responsible for the management of the mosque denounced the raid and demanded that Israeli forces leave the compound immediately.
The Arab and Muslim world criticized the Israeli storm in the Al-Aqsa mosque.
Following the Israeli raids at the Al-Aqsa mosque, demonstrations erupted throughout the occupied West Bank, while the Israeli military confirmed that nine rockets had been launched from Gaza towards Israel after sirens sounded in southern towns.
Tensions over Israeli assaults on worshippers in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque escalated further when a barrage of rockets was fired into Israel from Lebanon on Thursday, April 6.
The Israeli military reported that 34 rockets were launched from Israel's northern neighbor, with five landing inside the country and causing damage to properties.
Sirens were heard in the western Galilee towns of Betzet and Shlomi. Israel's emergency services confirmed that two people sustained minor injuries from shrapnel.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military stated that preliminary assessments suggest that the Palestinian movement Hamas was responsible for the attack.
According to sources from south Lebanon, the rockets were fired from the town of Qlaileh near Tyre, and security sources told that the attack was carried out by Palestinian factions in Lebanon rather than Hezbollah.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, has described the situation as "extremely serious."
In a statement, UNIFIL called for restraint and to avoid further escalation.
But following Thursday's rocket attack from Lebanon into Israel, the Israeli military launched air strikes on both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on Friday, April 7.
According to the Israeli military, the air strikes in Lebanon were aimed at the infrastructure of the Palestinian movement Hamas.
Local media reported that the farmland around al-Rashadieh, a seafront refugee camp just south of the city of Sour, was hit, as well as the nearby village of al-Kalila, where rockets were launched earlier.
As of now, there are no known casualties.
In addition, several areas in the Gaza Strip were also targeted in multiple raids that began after midnight local time.
The Palestinian health ministry has reported no casualties so far.
Anti-ballistic missiles and rockets were fired from Gaza in response, triggering sirens in several Israeli towns and cities bordering the strip.
Hamas condemned the Israeli air strikes on Lebanon in a statement and said it stood by the Lebanese people against the aggression.
OPEC+ surprises with million-barrel oil cut, inflation at risk
OPEC+ surprised the market this week by announcing over a million barrels per day oil production cut, reversing its earlier decision to maintain supply and creating a new risk for the global economy.
Despite the market being tight later in the year, oil futures spiked by 8% in New York on Monday, April 3, and gasoline prices also surged, increasing inflationary pressures and leading to concerns about prolonged interest rate hikes.
Saudi Arabia led the cartel by agreeing to reduce its own 500,000 barrel-a-day supply, followed by fellow members, including Kuwait, UAE, and Algeria, while Russia extended its production cut till the end of 2023.
The sudden decision to cut oil production by OPEC+ may further strain the already-tense relationship between the US and Saudi Arabia, as the White House has criticized the move as unwise.
From next month, the cuts will reduce production by about 1.1 million barrels a day, increasing to 1.6 million barrels from July due to Russia's existing supply reduction.
Russia initially lowered its production in March in response to Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Iran and Saudi Arabia make progress in restoring relations meeting in China
Saudi Arabia and Iran's foreign ministers met in Beijing on Thursday, April 6, for their first formal gathering since China helped broker a deal to restore relations between the two regional powers last month.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, shook hands in the Chinese capital and agreed to follow up on arrangements to reopen their diplomatic missions, encourage official and private visits, and facilitate visas for citizens.
They also agreed to discuss resuming flights between the countries.
The landmark agreement, brokered by China, ended years of hostility between the two nations and highlighted Beijing's growing influence in the region.
However, some analysts suggest that the deal aims further to facilitate the rise of a new anti-Western global order.
Read more on Al-Jazeera and Foreign Policy.
Two Iranian women arrested after man threw yogurt on them for not wearing hijab
According to a report by Iran's state-run Mizan News Agency, two women in the northeastern city of Shandiz were arrested after a man threw yogurt on them at a store for not wearing hijab.
The video of the incident shows the man approaching one of the women who is not wearing a hijab, speaking to her, and then throwing a tub of yogurt, hitting both women in the head.
In Iran, women can be arrested for not covering their hair and defying the mandatory dress code.
This incident is part of a larger movement against Iran's mandatory hijab law, which has seen protests and women burning their headscarves.
Those who participated in anti-government demonstrations following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police in September have faced various forms of abuse and torture, including electric shocks, controlled drowning, rape, and mock executions.
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Cover photo: Photo: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images - Axios