As the end of Ramadan approached, tens of thousands of Muslim worshipers ascended to the Temple Mount to attend the final Friday prayers of the month. Upon the prayers' conclusion, hundreds of Palestinians started attacking Israeli police with rocks, firebombs, and other implements that had been stockpiled in the Al-Aqsa Mosque ahead of time. The police responded with riot dispersal means and hundreds of Palestinian rioters and scores of Israeli policemen were hurt in the clashes.
Lurking in the background has been Hamas, which has been maliciously fanning the flames throughout. Already a month ago, Hamas leaders had called for a "massive uprising" in response to nonexistent "racist plans that target Al-Aqsa." Seizing on this manufactured crisis, Hamas leaders urged Palestinian young people to come to Al-Aqsa en masse and confront Israeli police, hailing their "heroism" when they did.
Finally, this past weekend, Hamas television aired a speech by a senior Hamas official in which he called on Palestinians in Jerusalem to behead Jews in the city streets. "Buy a knife, sharpen it, put it there, and just cut off [their heads]," he said, gesturing to his neck. "It costs just five shekels. With those five shekels, you will humiliate the Jewish state."
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