Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid held a briefing for foreign correspondents April 24, a week before the end of the month of Ramadan, to announce, “Israel is committed to the status quo on the Temple Mount. Muslims pray on the Temple Mount; non-Muslims only visit. There is no change, there will be no change and we have no plans to divide the Temple Mount between the faiths.”
The briefing came after a tense weekend at Al-Aqsa, where unrest broke out April 22 between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces. Masked Palestinians threw rocks and firecrackers and Israeli police dispersed the demonstrations with stun grenades and other means. For the first time, the Israeli police used a drone to fire tear gas grenades inside the compound.
