Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem holy site leave 200 injured
- Officers responded to thrown rocks with tear gas and stun grenades at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
- There have been nightly clashes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, where Palestinian families face eviction from homes claimed by Jewish settlers
Israeli police shot tear gas and stun grenades towards rock-hurling Palestinian youth at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday amid growing anger over the potential eviction of Palestinians from land on homes claimed by Jewish settlers.
At least 200 Palestinians and six officers were injured in the nighttime clashes at Islam’s third-holiest site, Palestinian medics and Israeli police said, as thousands of Palestinians faced off with several hundred Israeli police in riot gear.
Tension has mounted in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, with nightly clashes in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah – a neighbourhood where numerous Palestinian families face eviction in a long-running legal case.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians packed into the hilltop compound surrounding Al-Aqsa mosque earlier on Friday for prayers. Many stayed on to protest against the evictions in the city at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Our people will remain steadfast and patient in their homes, in our blessed land,” Al-Aqsa’s Sheikh Abu Sunainah said in support of Sheikh Jarrah during his Friday sermon.
