It is difficult to underestimate the magnitude of this failure, for the Israeli authorities. On this “Jerusalem day”, Monday May 10, the date commemorating the conquest and annexation of the eastern part of the city in favor of the 1967 war, Israel was to celebrate the “reunification” of the holy city. This term has become meaningless, like counterfeit money, early Monday morning. It is a day of Palestinian resistance, a day of barricades, which has opened. By evacuating manu militari the Esplanade des Mosques, the living heart of the Muslim city, the authorities de facto recognize that the East of the Green Line remains a Palestinian city, occupied and inalienated.
Thousands of Palestinians spent the night in the Al-Aqsa shrine, some piling up piles of stones in anticipation of the day. At half past six, shortly before the gates opened, police announced that Jews would not be allowed to go there today. Jewish activists intended to pray there, in violation of the current status quo. During the weekend, late, Washington, the United Nations, Jordan, guardian of the holy places, but also Arab monarchies, Qatar and the new Emirati ally, put pressure on Israel, so that it moderates police operations disproportionate in recent days.
On amateur videos broadcast in real time from the esplanade, police officers in riot gear huddle behind rows of shields to progress on the slabs, strewn with thousands of stones. A continuous fire of stun grenades explodes on the carpets inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque itself, where young people try to push back the police at the door, with stones. Others explode in the section reserved for women, eliciting cries of fear. Shortly after, the mosque appears to be empty. Most of the clashes are concentrated outside, where Israeli forces are pushing the Palestinians towards the northern gates of the site. The Palestinian Red Crescent evacuates the wounded with difficulty: it evokes more than 305 wounded, including 200 hospitalized, hit in the face and by inhaling fumes.
By 9:30 a.m., these clashes abated, most of the Palestinians appear to have been evacuated from the compound. However, the police estimate that thousands remain barricaded there. Small groups stand with their hands raised, their backs to the wall. Others still lead crossroads with police units, mounted on the platform that surrounds the Dome of the Rock. Palestinian rescuers, in orange jackets, roam the tree-lined gardens in search of the wounded.
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