Palestinian unrest has Israelis on high alert
JERUSALEM: Scores of people were injured on Saturday as Israeli police fired water cannon and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian protesters in annexed east Jerusalem, a day after fierce clashes at the city’s Al-Aqsa mosque.
The fresh violence, a day after more than 200 people were wounded at the mosque, prompted international calls for an end to the violence.
Police said they dispersed the rally in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood where demonstrators had thrown stones at security forces.
Officials on Sunday said a rocket had been fired from the Gaza Strip, with the Israel Defence Forces responding by striking a “military target” 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.
Israeli riot police on Saturday reportedly fired rubber bullets, sound grenades and water cannon at Palestinians, 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 said in a meeting of security officials.
The violence was the worst in years at Al-Aqsa, Islam’s third-holiest site after Mecca and Medina. It is located on the site Jews revere as the Temple Mount.
Palestinians have held nightly protests in Sheikh Jarrah against an attempt by Israeli settlers to take over Arab homes.
On Saturday, protesters chanted, waved Palestinian flags and threw stones before police moved in.
Dozens of Arab Israeli protesters also gathered across Israel in solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah residents, holding up signs that read “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 on 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, hundreds marched on highways leading to the city.
The quartet of envoys, from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations, expressed “deep concern” over the violence.
“We call upon Israeli authorities to exercise restraint,” they wrote.
The US — an Israeli ally whose tone has toughened under US President Joe Biden — said it was “extremely concerned” and urged both sides to “avoid steps that exacerbate tensions”.