Clashes in east Jerusalem trigger global concern
Netanyahu says Israel firmly rejects pressure not to build in Jerusalem; Pope Francis calls for end to clashes in Jerusalem; unrest sweeps occupied West Bank
Tensions ran high Sunday in annexed east Jerusalem ater hundreds of Palestinians were wounded in a weekend of clashes between protesters and Israeli security forces, sparking global concern that the unrest could spread further.
Israel “firmly rejects” pressure not to build in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday following spreading international condemnation of planned evictions of Palestinians from homes in the city claimed by Jewish setlers.
Pope Francis on Sunday expressed his concern at the unrest in Jerusalem, saying: “Violence only generates violence. Let’s stop these clashes.”
“I pray so that this might be a place of encounter and not violent clashes, a place of prayer and of peace. I invite everyone to seek shared resolutions so that the multireligious identity and multiculture of the holy city might be respected and so that fraternity might prevail,” he said ater reciting the Regina Caeli prayer.
The violence around Jerusalem’s revered Al Aqsa mosque compound and the Old City, mostly at night, is the worst since 2017, fuelled by a years-long bid by setlers to take over Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem.
The unrest swept parts of occupied West Bank and a rocket was fired early on Sunday from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, with the Israeli army saying it responded with an air strike that struck a Hamas military post.
Tunisia’s foreign ministry said it has called for a meeting Monday of the UN Security Council to discuss the escalating violence amid growing international calls for an end to the unrest.
Some 100 Palestinians were wounded in Saturday’s overnight clashes, many hit by rubber bullets and stun grenades, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
Israeli police said of its 17 officers were wounded. The previous night more than 220 people, again mostly Palestinians, were hurt ater Israeli police stormed Al Aqsa ater they said Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks at officers.
On Saturday night, thousands of Palestinians packed Al Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest site to hold special Ramadan prayers.
Israeli police set up roadblocks saying it wanted to limit access to the Old City and avoid “violent riots,” effectively preventing hundreds more from joining the prayers.
A bus heading to east Jerusalem was stopped and some Palestinians detained for questioning by police, an AFP reporter said, while hundreds of Palestinians marched on highways to the Holy City.
“They want to stop us from going to Al Aqsa,” said Ali al-komani, 40, outside the holy site.
Saturday’s Laylat Al Qadr (Night of Destiny) was a peak of the holy fasting month, believed to be the night when the Holy Quran was revealed to the (PBUH) Prophet Mohammed.
The prayers at Al Aqsa were held peacefully, but violence flared elsewhere in east Jerusalem, in the West Bank and on the border between the blockaded Gaza Strip and Israel, correspondents said.
Israeli mounted police deployed outside Damascus Gate, a key access point to the Old City of Jerusalem, as agents fired stun grenades to disperse Palestinian protesters.
Palestinians pelted riot police with stones and set fire to a makeshit barricade, and a woman with a bloody face was escorted away from the scene by a rescuer, reporters said.
Police said they detained nine people for “disrupting public order” and warned that “all means will be used to maintain calm.”
Police also dispersed a rally in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where Palestinian families facing eviction from their homes in a dispute with setlers are expecting a Supreme Court ruling on Monday.
Police fired stun grenades and water cannon at protesters who pelted them with stones, while a group of Palestinians clapped and sang “We will return.”
A reporter for Israeli public television tweeted footage of a Jewish driver whose car was attacked with stones and windows shatered at the entrance to Sheikh Jarrah.
At an Israeli army checkpoint in the West Bank, troops fired tear gas grenades, some of which Palestinian protesters caught and hurled back using slingshots.