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08-05-2021
JERUSALEM: More than 170 Palestinian worshippers have been injured in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and elsewhere in occupied East Jerusalem, as weeks-long tensions between Israel and the Palestinians over Jerusalem soared again.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of Palestinian worshippers packed into the mosque on the final Friday of Ramadan and many stayed on to protest in support of Palestinians facing eviction from their homes on Israeli-occupied land claimed by Jewish settlers.
During the past week, residents of Sheikh Jarrah, as well as Palestinian and international solidarity activists, have attended nightly vigils to support the Palestinian families under threat of forced displacement.
Israeli border police and forces have attacked the sit-ins using skunk water, tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and shock grenades over the past few days. Dozens of Palestinians have been arrested.
The United Nations has urged Israel to call off any forced evictions in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, warning that its actions could amount to “war crimes”.
“We call on Israel to immediately call off all forced evictions,” UN rights office spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.
“We wish to emphasize that East Jerusalem remains part of the occupied Palestinian territory, in which international humanitarian law applies,” Colville said.
“The occupying power… cannot confiscate private property in occupied territory,” he said, adding that transferring civilian populations into occupied territory was illegal under international law and “may amount to war crimes.”
The Reuters news service reports that 178 Palestinians and six police officers have been injured in the night-time clashes in at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and around East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said 88 of the Palestinians injured were taken to hospital after being hit with rubber-coated metal bullets.
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said they have now recorded 163 people injured in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and elsewhere in Jerusalem, including 83 who were hospitalized.
Israel said six police officers were wounded.
The Red Crescent also said it had established a field hospital in Jerusalem to deal with minor and moderate injuries to reduce the pressure on hospitals.
Clashes continue at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
Hours after clashes first broke out, large reinforcements from the Israeli police forces continued to stream into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Palestinian activists reported that Israeli forces were continuing to target worshippers in the compound as a large numbers of Palestinians held prayers inside the mosque.
Calls for Israeli police to withdraw
Appealing for calm on the compound through the mosque’s loudspeakers, Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, called on Israeli police to halt their attacks and withdraw from the mosque courtyard.
“Police must immediately stop firing stun grenades at worshippers, and the youth must calm down and be quiet!” (Int’l News Desk)
