OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Scores of people were injured
Saturday as Israeli occupation forces fired water cannon and rubber bullets to
disperse Palestinian protesters in occupied
East Jerusalem, a day after fierce
clashes at the city's Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif.
اضافة اعلان
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 neighborhood where demonstrators had thrown stones at Israeli forces.
Officials said Sunday a rocket had been fired from the Gaza
Strip, with the Israeli 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.
AFP journalists in occupied Jerusalem said Israeli riot
police had fired rubber bullets, sound grenades and water cannon on
Palestinians Saturday, some of whom threw projectiles at occupation forces. One
officer received a head injury, Israeli forces claimed.
On Friday, Israeli forces stormed Al-Aqsa mosque compound,
after they said Palestinians threw rocks and fireworks at officers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the
forces’ 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, located on the site Jews revere as
the “Temple Mount.”
A focal point
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".
Israeli forces 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.
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 movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged
Palestinians to remain at Al-Aqsa until Ramadan ends, warning that "the
resistance is ready to defend Al-Aqsa at any cost".
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 call upon Israeli authorities to exercise
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 both sides to "avoid 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
said.
The European Union called on the authorities "to act
urgently to de-escalate the current 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 occupied
East Jerusalem "a violation of international law".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he held the Israeli
government responsible for the unrest and voiced "full support 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
Israeli forces.
'Barbaric attack'
The Al-Aqsa clashes drew sharp rebukes across the Arab and
Muslim world.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel as
a "cruel terrorist state" in a speech in Ankara Saturday, calling on
the United Nations to intervene to "stop the persecution."
Jordan condemned Israel's "barbaric attack" 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 normalization 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 expected to remain high in Jerusalem.
Israel's supreme court is to hold a new hearing in the
Sheikh Jarrah case on Monday, when Israelis mark “Jerusalem Day” to celebrate
the annexation of the city.
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