Fresh clashes in Israel
Israeli border police patrol Friday during clashes with Palestinians next to the historic Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. Palestinians protested Israel’s threatened eviction of Palestinians who have been in a long legal fight with Israeli settlers trying to acquire property in the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. More photos at arkansasonline.com/58oldcity/.
JERUSALEM — Palestinian worshippers clashed with Israeli police Friday evening at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City as weekslong tensions between Israel and the Palestinians over Jerusalem soared again.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said 53 people were wounded in clashes with police there and elsewhere in Jerusalem, including 23 who were hospitalized. It says most were wounded in the face and eyes by rubber-coated bullets and shrapnel from stun grenades.
The clashes were the latest in a deadly day in which Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians after three men opened fire on an Israeli base in the occupied West Bank.
The clashes broke out when Israeli police deployed heavily as Muslims were performing evening prayers at Al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan. Video footage shows worshippers throwing chairs, shoes and rocks toward the police and officers responding by opening fire. Israeli police also closed gates leading to Al-Aqsa in the walled Old City.
Dozens of Palestinians in an east Jerusalem neighborhood are at risk of being evicted after a long legal battle with Israeli settlers, and Palestinian protesters have clashed with Israeli police nightly since the start of Ramadan.