JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Clashes broke out on Sunday between police and Jewish pilgrims at a religious festival site in northern Israel, where three years ago 45 people died in a mass crowd and authorities closed this year due to rocket fire from Lebanon.
Since the 2021 tragedy at the tomb of a 2nd-century sage during the annual Lag B’Omer celebration, police have limited the number of participants. The all-night sessions of prayer, mystical chanting and dancing had attracted tens of thousands of people in previous years.
This year’s festival was canceled because the site of Meron in the Galilee was targeted by rocket fire from Lebanon. Many towns in northern Israel have been evacuated since Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon began firing on them following the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, which triggered the war in Gaza. Since then, the two sides have exchanged blows.
Despite the closure, police said they turned away thousands of pilgrims over the weekend, but hundreds managed to reach the site, where the situation spiraled out of control. The visitors damaged property and threw objects at officers, police said. Nineteen police officers were injured.
Israeli media reported that several people among the unauthorized crowd were injured.
At least one officer was suspended for pushing an older man to the ground, and police said they were looking into other incidents at the scene.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; editing by Josie Kao)
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