Foreign
THE Red Crescent organisation on Monday reported that 215 people were injured, four of them serious, with over 150 sent to hospital after the fight at al-Aqsa Mosque.
The fight, between Israeli security forces and protesters that left hundreds injured was prompted by a dispute about access to parts of the Old City and attempts to evict a Palestinian family from their home.
Police said nine officers had been injured.
The number of those injured could rise and there were reports that some people who had been hurt were still at the site.
Some alleged that Israel was preventing medics from reaching the site.
Many Palestinians are angry because Israeli police had cordoned off areas of the Old City to prevent gatherings.
In addition, some Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah facing eviction from their homes by Israeli authorities further heighten tensions.
A Supreme Court ruling on the evictions expected for Monday was postponed.
There was a further incident on the edge of the Old City when an Israeli motorist rammed his car into a Palestinian man after his vehicle was pelted with stones by a group of Palestinians.
Israeli police said the man lost control of the car. The driver was then attacked by a crowd.
An Israeli police officer fired into the air, forcing Palestinians to release him.
There were also reports of protests in other cities.
The situation in the West Bank and in the Arab-dominated eastern part of Jerusalem has been tense since the beginning of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Adding to the tension, Israel marks Jerusalem Day on Monday, when the country commemorates its annexation of East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of 1967.
Palestinians see East Jerusalem as a potential capital of any independent country and contest Israel’s claim.
In an effort to minimise violence, Israeli authorities have banned parades by Jewish groups through the Old City and to the Temple Mount.
Hussein al-Sheikh, advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, criticised the “storming” of the Temple Mount by Israeli police officers and said the Palestinian leadership was keeping all options open for its response.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to exercise “maximum restraint,” according to a spokesperson.
The U.S. government also expressed concern.
Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said there was a risk that Israelis would occupy East Jerusalem and push Palestinians out, describing developments in Sheikh Jarrah as “very, very worrying”.
There is no viable alternative at present to a two-state solution, he said on his way into EU foreign ministers talks in Brussels, and Jerusalem is the capital of both Israel and Palestine.
The council is to meet behind closed doors after a request from Tunisia, three Security Council diplomats told the newspaper.
Members of both the Muslim and Jewish faiths attach strong religious significance to the mosque and its surrounding areas, making the potential for clashes there high.
The clashes have grown more intense in recent days.
On Friday, about 300 Palestinians and 20 police officers sustained injuries.
NAN
– May 10, 2021 @ 17:58 GM
Tags: Hundreds injured in renewed fighting at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque
