Israeli police raided Al Aqsa Mosque before dawn on Wednesday and detained 350 people, drawing international condemnation and a furious reaction from Gaza, from where rockets were launched into Israel shortly after.
There were fears before Ramadan of an increase in violence, especially on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover at this flashpoint site, which is important to all the communities living in Jerusalem and beyond.
Al Aqsa Mosque compound is a site considered holy by Muslims, Jews and Christians and is a focal point of Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Why is Al Aqsa Mosque so important?
The compound is known as Al Haram Al Sharif by Muslims and includes Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine.
Muslims believe that the Prophet Mohammed travelled from Makkah to Jerusalem and ascended to heaven from the site.
Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan during the Arab-Israeli War of 1967 and annexed the area. Israel later declared a unified Jerusalem to be its capital, but that has not been recognised by the international community.
Violence at Al Aqsa during Ramadan in 2021 was one of the factors leading up to the 11-day war between Israel and extremist groups in Gaza. Further flare-ups since then have been averted with the help of mediation by Egypt.
What led to the 2021 Gaza war?
Palestinians demonstrated for several weeks starting in March 2021 over a potential Israeli court ruling to expel Palestinian families from homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli settlers in Sheikh Jarrah laid claim to the properties, citing historical and religious grounds.
The Palestinian protests turned into confrontations with Israeli police and far-right Israeli settlers in the area, followed by a spate of arson attacks and stabbings involving Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestinians gathered at Al Aqsa Mosque to protest against what they described as Israel’s attempts to change the demography of East Jerusalem and assert Israeli control over it. Israeli police raided the mosque after Palestinians started throwing stones at them, according to Israeli officials.
The incident left dozens of Palestinians injured. Hamas, which rules Gaza and is considered a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and several other countries, fired rockets into Israeli cities and Jerusalem.
Israel responded with air strikes on Gaza and an 11-day war erupted.
According to the UN, 261 Palestinians were killed, including 41 women, 67 children, and three people with disabilities, most in Israeli strikes. At least 130 were civilians. More than 2,200 Palestinians were injured.
Ten Israeli citizens and residents were killed by rockets launched by Palestinian armed groups, and 710 others were injured, the UN said.
Why is Jerusalem Day controversial?
Israel's annual celebration of Jerusalem Day, an official holiday that commemorates its capture of the entire city, has added to the tensions.
The event, which starts at sunset on May 18 in 2023, is seen as a provocation by Palestinians, who aspire to have East Jerusalem as the capital of their long-awaited state.
Israeli nationalists regularly stage a flag march that takes them through the Old City's Muslim Quarter by the Damascus Gate. They usually sing patriotic songs, but in the past some marchers have been filmed chanting violent, often racist, anti-Arab slurs.
The march and prayers by Jews at the site have led to Palestinian-Israeli violence in the compound of Al Aqsa Mosque on several occasions.
Al Aqsa Mosque is administered by a waqf — an Islamic trust — that is funded and controlled by Jordan in a security arrangement with Israel after both countries signed a peace treaty in 1994. Under the arrangement, Jews are not allowed to pray in the grounds of Al Aqsa compound but can pray at the nearby Western Wall.
Last year, an Israeli court ruled that Jews could pray at Al Aqsa as long as they did so silently. The verdict was condemned by many Palestinians.
What are the controversial metal detectors at Al Aqsa?
In 2017, Israel introduced new security measures at Al Aqsa compound, including the installation of metal detectors and security cameras.
The move followed two attacks in and around Jerusalem in which five Israelis were killed, including two police officers. The attacks came after the fatal shootings of three Palestinians by Israeli security forces.
The metal detectors sparked more unrest, in which six Palestinians were killed.
In protest, Muslims prayed in front of police barricades in the streets around the Old City. The detectors were removed after weeks of protests, violence and international pressure.
What is the Al Aqsa intifada?
A controversial visit to Al Aqsa Mosque by the late Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2000, when he was leader of the opposition, sparked what became known as the Second Intifada, or uprising. The first one began in 1987 over Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Protests against Sharon's visit ballooned into an armed conflict in which more than 3,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed.
Jawab Iteiqal
Director: Mohamed Sammy
Starring: Mohamed Ramadan, Ayad Nasaar, Mohamed Adel and Sabry Fawaz
2 stars
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company%20profile
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Company%20Profile
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RESULTS FOR STAGE 4
Stage 4 Dubai to Hatta, 197 km, Road race.
Overall leader Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
Stage winners: 1. Caleb Ewan AUS (Lotto - Soudal) 2. Matteo Moschetti ITA (Trek - Segafredo) 3. Primoz Roglic SLO (Team Jumbo - Visma)
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
A general guide to how active you are:
Less than 5,000 steps - sedentary
5,000 - 9,999 steps - lightly active
10,000 - 12,500 steps - active
12,500 - highly active
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
