Israeli riot police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians who threw bricks, bottles, and flares at policemen at Islam's third holiest spot, according to video footage (“United Arab Emirates, Saudi condemn Israeli proposal to evacuate Palestinians”, May 9, Gulf Today).

Israeli forces invaded the mosque's sprawling plaza and shot explosives inside the compound, where a large number of worshippers, including women and girls, were praying on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Following a night of unrest in occupied Jerusalem, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia rejected Israel's efforts to evacuate Palestinians from their homes on Saturday. In a statement issued by the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Khalifa Al Marar, the UAE "harshly criticized" the conflicts and possible evictions, and advised Israeli authorities to de-escalate growing tension.

Marar voiced the UAE's intense concern about the unrest in occupied East Jerusalem, and its firm criticism of the smashing of Al Aqsa Mosque and the evacuation of Palestinian communities from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which culminated in many civilians being injured.

“Saudi Arabia condemns Israel's preparations and actions to evacuate thousands of Palestinians from their houses in Jerusalem and enforce Israeli sovereignty on them,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya. We pray for the injured's quick recovery, affirm our unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, and call on the (international) forum to move quickly to protect the Palestinian people.