The number of wounded in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday has increased to more than 150 according to revised official estimates.

As per the Palestinian Red Crescent’s latest tally, 153 people remain hospitalised, despite dozens being treated at the scene of the clashes.

Also read | Over 900 dead civilians found in Kyiv region, several were tortured

Commenting on the clashes, Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid said, “The convergence of Passover, Ramadan and Easter is symbolic of what we have in common. We must not let anyone turn these holy days into a platform for hate, incitement and violence,” adding that the “riots” in Jerusalem were “unacceptable.”

According to the Israeli police, the clashes began on Friday after dozens of masked Palestinians marched into the Al-Aqsa mosque, set off fireworks, and started pelting stones at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in Judaism.

Witnesses of the clashes said while the Palestinians hurled stones at the Israeli police, the police responded with rubber bullets and stun grenades.

Three police personnel were injured, while more than 400 Palestinians were arrested in connection with the incident.

Friday’s clashes marked the first incidence of violence between the two sides since the holy month of Ramadan began.

Also read | South Carolina man on death row picks firing squad over electric chair

It also took place after weeks of sporadic violence across Israel, where tensions have been high with the Jewish festival of Passover, the Christian Easter, and the Islamic month of Ramadan all overlapping.

Clashes in Jerusalem on Ramadan, however, are not rare. Last year, major clashes erupted between Palestinian visitors to Al-Aqsa and Israeli forces, leading to 11 days of intense violence and fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, the Islamist group ruling over the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.