It’s become something of a grim, springtime tradition in the Holy Land. Israeli police fire tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians stockpiling rocks and fireworks inside one of the most bitterly disputed holy sites on Earth. The violence ripples across Israel and the occupied West Bank, and militants from as far away as Gaza and Lebanon respond with rockets. Similar tensions in 2021 boiled over into an 11-day Gaza war. Violence at the holy site in 2000 ignited a five-year Palestinian uprising and a fierce Israeli military crackdown across the occupied territories. Jerusalem is home to the hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
