Scores of individuals had been injured Saturday as Israeli police fired water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian protesters in annexed east Jerusalem, a day after fierce clashes on the metropolis’s Al-Aqsa mosque.
The contemporary violence, a day after greater than 200 folks had been wounded on the mosque, prompted worldwide requires an finish to the violence.
Police stated they dispersed the rally in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood the place demonstrators had thrown stones at safety forces.
Officials stated Sunday a rocket had been fired from the Gaza Strip, with the Israel Defense Forces responding by putting a “navy goal” in the south. Earlier, officers had fired tear gas towards protesters on the border.
In Jerusalem, police said they made three arrests for attacks on officers, while Palestinians reported 13 other arrests earlier in the day.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 90 people were wounded in Saturday’s clashes in Jerusalem, revising up their earlier estimate of 53.
AFP journalists in Jerusalem said Israeli riot police had fired rubber bullets, sound grenades and water cannon on Palestinians Saturday, some of whom threw projectiles at the police. One officer received a head injury, said police.
On Friday, riot police stormed Al-Aqsa mosque compound, after they said Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks at officers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the police actions.
“Israel is acting responsibly to ensure respect for law and order in Jerusalem while allowing freedom of worship,” he stated in a gathering of safety officers.
The violence was the worst in years at Al-Aqsa, Islam’s third-holiest web site after Mecca and Medina, positioned on the location Jews revere because the Temple Mount.
A focus
Palestinians have held nightly protests in Sheikh Jarrah towards an try by Israeli settlers to take over Arab properties.
On Saturday, protesters chanted, waved Palestinian flags and threw stones earlier than police moved in.
Dozens of Arab Israeli protesters additionally gathered throughout Israel in solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah residents, holding up indicators that learn “the occupation is terrorism”.
A reporter for Israeli public TV tweeted footage of a Jewish driver whose car was attacked with stones and windows shattered at the entrance to Sheikh Jarrah Saturday.
Police blocked buses filled with Arabs headed for Jerusalem from northern Israel, saying they would not be allowed “to participate in violent riots”.
Instead, a whole bunch marched on highways resulting in the town.
Thousands of worshippers stayed on at Al-Aqsa on Saturday for Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), a peak of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The Islamist motion Hamas, which guidelines Gaza, urged Palestinians to stay at Al-Aqsa till Ramadan ends, warning that “the resistance is able to defend Al-Aqsa at any value”.
Outside the Damascus Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City, Palestinians set fire to a barricade before police on horseback dispersed the protesters.
‘Extreme concern’
The Quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations expressed “deep concern” over the violence.
“We name upon Israeli authorities to train restraint,” they wrote.
The United States — an Israeli ally whose tone has toughened under US President Joe Biden — said it was “extremely concerned” and urged either side to “keep away from steps that exacerbate tensions or take us farther away from peace”.
“This includes evictions in east Jerusalem, settlement activity, home demolitions and acts of terrorism,” the State Department stated.
The European Union referred to as on the authorities “to behave urgently to de-escalate the present tensions,” saying “violence and incitement are unacceptable and the perpetrators on all sides must be held accountable”.
Russia voiced “deep concern”, calling the expropriation of land and property in the occupied Palestinian territories including east Jerusalem “a violation of international law”.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas stated he held the Israeli authorities accountable for the unrest and voiced “full assist for our heroes in Al-Aqsa”.
Yair Lapid, an Israeli politician attempting to form a coalition government to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, backed the police.
“The state of Israel will not let violence run loose and definitely will not allow terror groups to threaten it,” he tweeted.
‘Barbaric attack’
The Al-Aqsa clashes drew sharp rebukes throughout the Arab and Muslim world.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel as a “merciless terrorist state” in a speech in Ankara Saturday, calling on the United Nations to intervene to “stop the persecution”.
Jordan condemned Israel’s “barbaric assault” and Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Pakistan and Qatar were among Muslim countries that blasted Israeli forces for the confrontation.
Israel also drew criticism from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two countries that signed normalisation accords with the Jewish state last year.
Iran called on the United Nations to condemn the Israeli police actions, arguing that “this war crime once again proved to the world the criminal nature of the illegitimate Zionist regime”.
Tensions are anticipated to stay excessive in Jerusalem.
Israel’s supreme courtroom is to carry a brand new listening to in the Sheikh Jarrah case on Monday, when Israelis mark Jerusalem Day to have a good time the “liberation” of the town.
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