Sun 09 May 2021:
Another night of violence has left at least 90 Palestinians wounded after Israeli police cracked down on protesters outside occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City, the Palestine Red Crescent reported early Sunday.
A one-year-old and five children were among those injured and 16 people were hospitalized because of injuries, the group said in a statement.
A health care professional working for an ambulance was also wounded.
An estimated 90,000 Muslim worshippers prayed at the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr – or the “Night of Destiny”, the most sacred of prayers during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan – on Saturday.
Some stayed on to protest Israeli plans to forcibly expel Palestinian families from their homes on land claimed by illegal Jewish settlers in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.
Israeli security forces on horseback and in riot gear fired stun grenades and water cannon against Palestinians who in turn threw stones, lit fires, and tore down police barricades in the streets leading to the walled Old City’s gates.
Protests came as the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem approved a decision to evict seven Palestinian families from their homes in favor of Israeli settlers at the beginning of 2021.
At least 90 Palestinians have been injured in Israeli police crackdown on protesters outside the Old City of Jerusalem on Saturday, as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers prayed at Al-Aqsa Mosque https://t.co/WGLdFV5e6W pic.twitter.com/d6H9FVWF2l
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 9, 2021
#Israeli occupation forces brutally attack #Palestinian women and girls this evening in Occupied #Jerusalem.#Palestine #Palestinians #SheikhJarrah #SaveSheikhJarrah #AlAqsaMosque #AlAqsa #AlAqsaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/iGjuRw1wiG
— Sufi World (@WorldofSufis) May 8, 2021
Palestinian defenceless WOMEN were beaten by the Israeli occupation police today in #SheikhJarrah neighbourhood in occupied #Jerusalem.#SaveSheikhJarrah pic.twitter.com/yleLgWMv1v
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 8, 2021
Israeli police attempted to disperse worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Friday evening, using stun grenades and gas bombs.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he held the Israeli government responsible for the unrest and voiced “full support for our heroes in Al-Aqsa”, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the police actions.
“Israel is acting responsibly to ensure respect for law and order in Jerusalem while allowing freedom of worship,” Netanyahu said in a meeting of security officials.
This is what the Old City of Jerusalem looked like last night as Israeli police tried to repel Palestinian protesters with stun grenades and water cannons on Laylat al Qadr, a holy night for Muslims around the world pic.twitter.com/WuSRcbPgiu
— TRT World (@trtworld) May 9, 2021
“Look how they are firing at us. How can we live?”
Israeli police injure dozens of Palestinians in Jerusalem https://t.co/rLR9tVaSP0 pic.twitter.com/joa2kNQgbV
— The National (@TheNationalNews) May 9, 2021
Joining other countries in the region, Turkey denounced Israel’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calling Israel a “cruel terrorist state”.
“We strongly condemn Israel’s heinous attacks … that are unfortunately being carried out every Ramadan,” Turkey’s president said.
Speaking at an event in Istanbul, Erdogan called on all Muslim countries and the international community to take “effective” steps against Israel, adding those that remain silent were “a party to the cruelty there”.
High alert
Israeli security forces were on high alert on Sunday, bracing for a further escalation ahead of what Israelis call Jerusalem Day. Many Israelis mark the day East Jerusalem was occupied and later annexed in 1967 with marches throughout Jerusalem each year.
Amos Gilad, a former senior military official, told Army Radio the march should be cancelled or rerouted away from the Old City’s Damascus Gate, saying “the powder keg is burning and can explode at any time”.
About 30,000 Jewish settlers are expected to participate in a march towards the Damascus Gate in the Old City on Monday.
The gate will be closed to Palestinians until 7:30pm for “security reasons”, Israeli police said, adding 3,000 forces would be deployed.
Monday’s parade is typically attended by hardline nationalist Israelis and is widely perceived as provocative.
Arab League Meeting
A meeting of the Arab League is scheduled for Monday, but it is unlikely to change anything on the ground, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said.
This is unless Arab states, notably those that have normalised relations with Israel, decide to take meaningful action, he said.
“Unless the Arab League does take some serious initiative, including putting some of those states that normalise relations with Israel on notice … I think we will see simply more statements,” said Bishara.
