Jerusalem:
Hundreds had been wounded in new clashes Monday involving Palestinians and Israeli safety forces in Jerusalem as a planned march marking Israel’s 1967 takeover of the holy city threatened to additional inflame tensions.
Palestinians hurled projectiles at Israeli officers in riot gear who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas, an AFP correspondent at the scene stated, following a evening of sporadic clashes.
“There are hundreds of people injured from the clashes” and about 50 had been hospitalised, the Palestinian Red Crescent stated about the most up-to-date unrest considering that violence escalated following the last Friday prayers of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
The clashes had been the most up-to-date in days of the worst such disturbances in Jerusalem considering that 2017, fuelled by a years-extended bid by Jewish settlers to take more than nearby Palestinian properties in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
A important court hearing scheduled for Monday on Sheikh Jarrah, the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighbourhood at the centre of the home dispute, has been postponed.
There had been fears of additional violence in the city ahead of a planned march Monday by Israelis to commemorate Israel’s takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, an anniversary recognized as “Jerusalem Day” in the Jewish state.
Israeli police had, as of Sunday, authorized the march, which was scheduled to start off about 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).
The leader of the far-suitable Religious Zionism party, Bezalel Smotrich, has also announced a go to Monday to the tense Sheikh Jarrah district.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended Israel’s response to the protests and rioting.
“We will uphold law and order — vigorously and responsibly,” Netanyahu stated though vowing to “guard freedom of worship for all faiths”.
‘Escalatory practices’
But the Israeli function in the hostilities — in particular Friday’s clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam’s third holiest web-site — has met widespread criticism.
All six Arab nations that have diplomatic ties with Israel — Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — have condemned the Jewish state.
In Jordan, the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy Islamic and Christian web pages, King Abdullah II condemned “Israeli violations and escalatory practices at the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque”.
Jordan and Egypt each summoned Israeli envoys on Sunday to lodge protests.
Tunisia stated the UN Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Monday, at its request, on the violence.
The Middle East quartet of envoys from the European Union, Russia, the United States and the United Nations — and Pope Francis — have all referred to as for calm.
“Israeli authorities must exercise maximum restraint and respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated.
The Red Crescent stated a total of more than 300 Palestinians had been wounded on Friday and Saturday nights.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF stated that more than two days, 29 Palestinian children had been injured in east Jerusalem, which includes a one-year-old.
Court case delayed
The unrest of previous weeks in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital, has various causes.
Much of the current violence stems from a extended-operating legal work by Jewish settler groups to evict a number of Palestinians from their properties in Sheikh Jarrah.
A reduce court ruling earlier this year backing the settlers’ decades-old claim to the plots infuriated Palestinians.
A Supreme Court hearing on a Palestinian appeal had been set for Monday, but the justice ministry stated Sunday that in light of “all the circumstances” it would delay the hearing.
Old City shopkeeper Mohammad stated Israeli police told him he ought to close Monday afternoon when Israeli Jews strategy to march with Israeli flags to mark Jerusalem’s “reunification”.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem following the 1967 takeover, a move not recognised by most of the international neighborhood.
The unrest has spread across the Palestinian territories, which includes demonstrations and clashes in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has expressed “full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa”.
Hamas Islamists who handle the Gaza Strip have also voiced assistance for the Palestinian protesters and warned Israel of retribution if evictions proceed in Sheikh Jarrah.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh referred to as Sunday for a united Arab and Muslim response against Israel’s “provocative desecration of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque”.
Four rockets had been fired from Gaza towards Israel on Sunday, the army stated, as nicely as incendiary balloons that began 39 fires on Israeli territory, according to the fire services.
The Israeli military stated late Sunday that “tanks just struck Hamas terror targets in Gaza”, with no providing additional information.
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