Israeli police scuffled with Palestinians for a second night Friday in annexed east Jerusalem, amid mounting tensions over a ban on gatherings and anger fuelled by videos posted of attacks.
The fresh violence came after clashes overnight Thursday, in which the Palestinian Red Crescent reported at least 105 wounded, of whom around 20 were transferred to hospital, while the Israeli police said 20 officers had been injured.
Tensions were fuelled by the arrival of far-right Jews at the end of a march during which they harassed Palestinians and chanted “death to Arabs”.
Clashes broke out between worshippers and police, with water bottles hurled at officers who fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
In Bethlehem, also in the West Bank, Palestinians threw stones and petrol bombs towards the tomb of biblical matriarch Rachel, a shrine venerated by Jews and Muslims, they added.
Later on Friday, the Israeli army said at least ten rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel into the early hours of the morning — the most in one night since the beginning of the year.
In response, witnesses and Palestinian security sources told AFP, Israeli tanks bombarded the Gaza Strip.
– Calls for calm –
“The rhetoric of extremist protestors chanting hateful and violent slogans must be firmly rejected,” State Department spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter.
Jordan condemned the “provocations” carried out by “extremist” Jewish groups, calling on Israel to prevent such incidents and lift restrictions on access to Al-Aqsa mosque.
“The spark you light today will be the wick of the explosion to come in the face of the enemy,” it said in a statement.
Police said that after night prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque Thursday “hundreds of rioters began disrupting the order violently, including throwing stones and objects at forces”.
“It was like a war zone; it was dangerous,” a Palestinian who was near the clashes outside the Old City told AFP. “That’s why I left the place.”
Police erected barriers to keep them from entering the mainly Arab location.
– ‘Pointless violence’ –
Lion said he had tried to cancel the Lehava march, but police told him it was legal, and noted that “dozens” of Jews who attacked Arabs had been arrested in the past two weeks.
And a statement late Thursday on the official Palestinian news agency Wafa urged the international community to protect Palestinians from the attacks, which it alleged were encouraged by the Israeli government.
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