Second night of Temple Mount celebrations ends peacefully
Thousands of people gather Friday night at the Temple Mount, after a relatively quiet day, for celebrations following the removal of security measures; masked men climb al-Aqsa mosque and wave Palestinian flags; King Abdullah II thanks US Pres. Trump for US efforts during crisis.
Thousands of people went out to celebrate at the end of Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque the opening of all the gates to the Temple Mount and Israel's removal of additional security measures.
Palestinian flags were hoisted over the top of the mosque and sweets were distributed to the crowd.
Friday's celebrations followed the relative calm, though Thursday's removal of the metal detectors from the holy site initially caused rioting by Muslim protestors in the compound that lasted until Thursday evening.
"This is our great victory, we proved that we are very strong, and all the steps taken by the police and the racist government have failed," several worshippers shouted while at the Temple Mount compound. "All thanks to our stubborn struggle."
"Our joy is very great, especially as this struggle united us, which is why we won," said one of the demonstrators. "We will never give up the Al-Aqsa Mosque, even if it costs us our lives. Today is a holiday for us, we are all happy here. We prayed and we will always come here to pray, without giving up."
Ali Masarwa, a resident of Wadi Ara, added: "Thank God that everything went quietly. We said that as long as the police are not inside the mosque compound, everything will go quietly and without any clashes. We now have no restrictions and no humiliating inspections of worshippers."
On Friday, there were minor confrontations after the prayers on the Temple Mount. Several Muslims threw rocks at police in the Wadi Joz neighborhood of Jerusalem near the Lions' Gate. The police reacted to the rock throwing with stun grenades, and no injuries were reported.
While most of the worshippers left the Temple Mount area relatively calmly, there were several disturbances in the West Bank area, which included rock throwing at Israeli security forces. Hundreds of Palestinians participated in these clashes in areas surrounding the Palestinian cities of Qalqilya, Bethlehem and Nablus. Two Palestinians were lightly wounded by rubber bullets during these altercations.
Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke to US President Donald Trump to discuss the latest developments on the Temple Mount, telling him that further coordination is important to prevent renewed tensions over a contested Jerusalem shrine.
The Royal Court said the monarch also told Trump in a phone call Friday that he valued the "key role" the US played in defusing the latest crisis.
Abdullah told Trump it is important to maintain the status quo at the site, a frequent flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Jordan serves as custodian of the Muslim-administered holy site, the third holiest in Islam and an extremely sacred site in Judaism.
