Clashes erupted on Sunday (May 26) between Jewish pilgrims and the police at a religious festival site in northern Israel. The location was closed to large gatherings this year due to rocket attacks from Lebanon&nbsp;following a deadly crowd crush that killed 45 people there three years ago.

The all-night sessions of prayers, mystical songs and dance had in previous years drawn crowds in the tens of thousands.

However, this year’s festival was cancelled since the site at Meron in the Galilee region has been targeted by rocket fire from Lebanon.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/israeli-airstrikes-in-rafah-camp-for-displaced-people-kill-35-palestinians-gaza-health-ministry-725705">Israeli airstrikes on Rafah camp kill 35 Palestinians: Gaza health ministry</a>

It is worth mentioning that&nbsp;many northern Israeli towns have been evacuated since Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon began firing at them following Hamas’ Oct&nbsp;7 assault on southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza.

Despite the closure, authorities turned away thousands of pilgrims over the weekend. However, hundreds managed to reach the site, leading to a tense situation. Police reported property damage and objects thrown at officers, resulting in injuries to 19 of them.

Israeli media reported that several people in the unauthorised crowd were hurt. At least one officer was suspended for pushing an older man to the ground, and police said it was examining other incidents from the site.

(With inputs from agencies)

Clashes erupted on Sunday (May 26) between Jewish pilgrims and the police at a religious festival site in northern Israel. The location was closed to large gatherings this year due to rocket attacks from Lebanon following a deadly crowd crush that killed 45 people there three years ago.

Clashes erupted on Sunday (May 26) between Jewish pilgrims and the police at a religious festival site in northern Israel. The location was closed to large gatherings this year due to rocket attacks from Lebanon following a deadly crowd crush that killed 45 people there three years ago. The all-night sessions of prayers, mystical songs and dance had in previous years drawn crowds in the tens of thousands. However, this year’s festival was cancelled since the site at Meron in the Galilee region has been targeted by rocket fire from Lebanon. Also read: Israeli airstrikes on Rafah camp kill 35 Palestinians: Gaza health ministry It is worth mentioning that many northern Israeli towns have been evacuated since Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon began firing at them following Hamas’ Oct 7 assault on southern Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza. Despite the closure, authorities turned away thousands of pilgrims over the weekend. However, hundreds managed to reach the site, leading to a tense situation. Police reported property damage and objects thrown at officers, resulting in injuries to 19 of them. Israeli media reported that several people in the unauthorised crowd were hurt. At least one officer was suspended for pushing an older man to the ground, and police said it was examining other incidents from the site. (With inputs from agencies)

Jewish pilgrims and police clash at restricted Mount Meron in Israel

US&nbsp;citizens&nbsp;are&nbsp;among&nbsp;the dozens&nbsp;killed&nbsp;and injured in a stampede at a religious&nbsp;festival&nbsp;in Israel, the&nbsp;US&nbsp;Embassy said on Saturday, as criticism mounted in the wake of one of the biggest civilian&nbsp;disasters in the country's history.

At least 45 people&nbsp;were&nbsp;crushed to death and more than 100 injured at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish&nbsp;festival&nbsp;on the slopes of Israel's Mount Meron, held overnight between Thursday and Friday.

The exact cause of the&nbsp;disaster&nbsp;is still not clear but witness accounts and videos posted on social media suggested that some people had fallen down stairs leading out of a narrow passageway packed by hundreds of worshippers trying to exit the site, as a surge of people came down upon&nbsp;those&nbsp;ahead of them who had fallen, being trampled and asphyxiated.

One witness described seeing a pyramid of people piling up one on top of the other. Authorities said there&nbsp;were&nbsp;children&nbsp;among&nbsp;those&nbsp;hurt.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dozens-killed-in-stampede-at-israeli-religious-bonfire-festival-381531">Israel pilgrimage stampede: At least 44 killed in biggest Covid-era gathering</a>

The Health Ministry said 32 of the dead had been identified by late Friday. The identification process paused for 24 hours&nbsp;in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, resuming on Saturday evening.

More than 20 of the people injured&nbsp;were&nbsp;still in hospital by Friday night. More than 2,000&nbsp;Israelis across the country responded to an emergency call for blood donations, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's ambulance service.

A&nbsp;US&nbsp;Embassy spokesperson said: "We can confirm that multiple&nbsp;US&nbsp;citizens&nbsp;were&nbsp;among&nbsp;the casualties".

Those&nbsp;included both dead and injured. The&nbsp;US&nbsp;Embassy was trying to verify if any more&nbsp;US&nbsp;citizens&nbsp;were&nbsp;involved and are providing all possible consular support to affected&nbsp;US&nbsp;citizens, the spokesperson said, declining to comment further.

The&nbsp;Israeli&nbsp;Foreign Ministry said on Friday that consulate officials in New York&nbsp;were&nbsp;in contact with four families of victims and the&nbsp;Israeli&nbsp;embassy in Argentina was in contact with one family.

US&nbsp;media have identified some of the dead, including a 19-year-old American citizen who was in Israel on a gap year.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that two Canadians&nbsp;were&nbsp;killed&nbsp;in the&nbsp;disaster.

Safety Concerns

The Justice Ministry said investigators would look into whether there had been any police misconduct connected to the tragedy and that police had started their own investigation into the incident.

There had been a concern for years about safety risks at the annual event, held at the tomb of a 2nd-century Jewish sage in Galilee.

Anger has mounted at the government and the police for allowing the event to go ahead despite its size far exceeding the coronavirus restrictions on gatherings. An estimated 100,000 packed the&nbsp;festival.

Some critics said politicians had caved to pressures of ultra-Orthodox leaders who are presently allied with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but have flouted the state's authority for years.

"The government wouldn't consider any restrictions for fear of its Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) partners. And as far as physical safety was concerned, this year wasn’t any different from previous ones. Warnings of a potential&nbsp;disaster&nbsp;have been heard many times before, including from members of the Haredi community, but the traditions must not be changed," wrote Anshel Pfeffer, an analyst for the left-wing Haaretz newspaper.

US citizens are among the dozens killed and injured in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, the US Embassy said on Saturday, as criticism mounted in the wake of one of the biggest civilian disasters in the country's history.

US citizens are among the dozens killed and injured in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, the US Embassy said on Saturday, as criticism mounted in the wake of one of the biggest civilian disasters in the country's history. At least 45 people were crushed to death and more than 100 injured at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish festival on the slopes of Israel's Mount Meron, held overnight between Thursday and Friday. The exact cause of the disaster is still not clear but witness accounts and videos posted on social media suggested that some people had fallen down stairs leading out of a narrow passageway packed by hundreds of worshippers trying to exit the site, as a surge of people came down upon those ahead of them who had fallen, being trampled and asphyxiated. One witness described seeing a pyramid of people piling up one on top of the other. Authorities said there were children among those hurt. Also read | Israel pilgrimage stampede: At least 44 killed in biggest Covid-era gathering The Health Ministry said 32 of the dead had been identified by late Friday. The identification process paused for 24 hours in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, resuming on Saturday evening. More than 20 of the people injured were still in hospital by Friday night. More than 2,000 Israelis across the country responded to an emergency call for blood donations, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's ambulance service. A US Embassy spokesperson said: "We can confirm that multiple US citizens were among the casualties". Those included both dead and injured. The US Embassy was trying to verify if any more US citizens were involved and are providing all possible consular support to affected US citizens, the spokesperson said, declining to comment further. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday that consulate officials in New York were in contact with four families of victims and the Israeli embassy in Argentina was in contact with one family. US media have identified some of the dead, including a 19-year-old American citizen who was in Israel on a gap year. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that two Canadians were killed in the disaster. Safety Concerns The Justice Ministry said investigators would look into whether there had been any police misconduct connected to the tragedy and that police had started their own investigation into the incident. There had been a concern for years about safety risks at the annual event, held at the tomb of a 2nd-century Jewish sage in Galilee. Anger has mounted at the government and the police for allowing the event to go ahead despite its size far exceeding the coronavirus restrictions on gatherings. An estimated 100,000 packed the festival. Some critics said politicians had caved to pressures of ultra-Orthodox leaders who are presently allied with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but have flouted the state's authority for years. "The government wouldn't consider any restrictions for fear of its Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) partners. And as far as physical safety was concerned, this year wasn’t any different from previous ones. Warnings of a potential disaster have been heard many times before, including from members of the Haredi community, but the traditions must not be changed," wrote Anshel Pfeffer, an analyst for the left-wing Haaretz newspaper.

US citizens were among those killed in Israeli festival disaster

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Jewish pilgrims and police clash at restricted Mount Meron in Israel

US citizens were among those killed in Israeli festival disaster