Palestinians Detained, Several Injured in Al-Aqsa Clashes
Clashes were reported in Jabal al-Mukabbir, Issawiya, Shufat Refugee Camp, al-Tur, Silwan, Abu Dis, al-Izariya, al-Suwwana and Wadi al-Joz neighborhoods throughout the day and night.
In Jabal al-Mukabbir, locals said that Israeli forces stormed the neighborhood, ransacking several homes and confiscating surveillance cameras from shops, as shop owners on the main streets were forced to shut down their stores.
Israeli forces detained eight young men from the neighborhood. Some of the detainees were taken from the street, while others were detained in their homes and assaulted before being transferred to the Oz police station.
An Israeli police spokesperson said that three Israeli officers had been injured by a petrol bomb in the neighborhood, reportedly after attempting to chase down Palestinian youth attempting to blockade a road with dumpsters and tires.
Separately, locals said that Israeli forces shot and injured a spokesman of the Fatah movement in the Shufat Refugee Camp, Ther al-Fasfous, with live fire, and dozens of others suffered from inhaling tear gas.
Israeli forces also detained a young man from the camp during clashes.
In Abu Dis and al-Izariya, fierce clashes were reported at the Kubsa crossroads and al-Quds University Street.
A spokesman for popular committees in East Jerusalem neighborhoods, Hani Halabiya, said that dozens of young men were hit with rubber-coated bullets. Four were evacuated a local clinics for treatment.
In the al-Isawiya neighborhood, dozens of young men also suffered from tear gas while dozens of others were hit with rubber coated bullets when Israeli forces raided the area, a member of a local committee Muhammad Abu al-Hummus said.
In the neighborhood of al-Tur, a boy was hit with a rubber-coated bullet in the head and moderately injured, according to medics. Israeli forces also detained a teenage boy.
In the Suwwana neighborhood, Israeli forces deployed on rooftops of residential buildings, firing tear gas canisters and stun grenades at young men who clashed with soldiers near the illegal Israeli outpost Beit Orot.
In Wadi al-Joz, a Palestinian woman was hit with a stun grenade after Israeli forces stormed an alley known as Hosh Saida.
Israeli forces also stormed the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and detained a teenage boy after breaking into his home.
The widespread unrest in East Jerusalem on Friday came after days of rising tension surrounding the one of many of the occupied city's holy sites, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Palestinians fear that Israeli authorities will renege on a longstanding agreement preventing non-Muslim prayer in the compound, further quashing hopes for East Jerusalem to be the capitol of the Palestinian state.
The number of Jewish visitors to the mosque compound has grown in recent years and so too have their demands for access and over sovereignty.
More than the actual numbers, which are still relatively low, the upward trend is alarming Palestinians along with statements of Israeli officials -- including cabinet ministers -- calling for the replacement of the Muslim site with the third Jewish temple.
The protesters in East Jerusalem as well as across the West Bank and Gaza Strip adopted the same slogan everywhere: "By our soul and our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for you Al-Aqsa."
Source: Ma’an News Agency
