Hawzah News Agency – Dozens of Israeli police units broke into Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City early this morning and attacked the thousands of Muslim worshippers performing the dawn prayer on a Ramadan morning causing dozens of injuries, reported medics and witnesses.

Witnesses said police raided the mosque compound as thousands of people, many of them elderly, women and children, were attending the early morning prayers, as has been the case every day since the start of the holy fast month of Ramadan two weeks ago, causing panic and forcing people to rush seeking safety from the police rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas.

The attack was random as police unleashed their firepower at the civilian worshippers in all directions as they broke into the walled holy compound without any consideration for the elderly and children who were there.

The Red Crescent said it handled dozens of injuries and transferred more than 60 people, many of them hit in the upper part of the body, to hospitals in Jerusalem as it set up a field hospital to handle the many injuries expected from the police attack.

The attack came as Palestinian Muslims prepare to attend the second Friday of Ramadan prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque as tens of thousands of people are expected to be there.

Last Friday, an estimated 80,000 people attended the first Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel restricts the number of worshippers from the West Bank who seek to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque by limiting entry to Jerusalem to women of all ages and men over 50 years of age only. Most of the worshippers come from occupied East Jerusalem and Arab towns inside Israel.