Israeli police and Palestinian protesters clash

A Palestinian man prays as Israeli police gather during clashes at the compound that houses Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City, on Friday, May 7, 2021. Reuters

Israeli security forces advance during clashes with Palestinian protesters at the compound that includes Al Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem, on Friday, May 7, 2021. AFP

Tear gas billows amid clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters near Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on May 7, 2021. AFP

Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters clash near Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on May 7, 2021. AFP

Palestinians react as Israeli police fire stun grenades during clashes at the Jerusalem compound that houses Al Aqsa Mosque, on May 7, 2021. Reuters

Elite Israeli forces conduct a search in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, after clashes between police and Palestinian protesters nearby on Friday, May 7, 2021. AP

Israeli police use a water cannon to disperse Palestinian protesters from the area near the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday, May 7. AP

An Israeli police officer stands guard at the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem after clashes near Al Aqsa Mosque on Friday, May 7, 2021. AP

Israeli police gather during clashes with Palestinians near Al Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem’s Old City, on May 7, 2021, amid tension over the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah. Reuters

Elite Israeli forces stand near the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem after clashes near Al Aqsa Mosque, on Friday, May 7, 2021. AP

Israeli police detain a Palestinian youth at the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem after clashes near Al Aqsa Mosque on Friday, May 7, 2021. AP

A Palestinian man prays as Israeli police gather during clashes at the compound that houses Al Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, amid tension over the possible eviction of several Palestinian families from homes in the nearby Sheikh Jarrah district, on May 7, 2021. Reuters

Israeli police on Saturday clashed with Palestinian protesters outside Jerusalem's Old City during the holiest night of Ramadan in a show of force that threatened to deepen the holy city's worst religious unrest in several years.
Earlier, police blocked busloads of pilgrims headed to Jerusalem to worship.

Police defended their actions as security moves, but these were seen as provocations by Muslims who accuse Israel of threatening their freedom of worship.
Competing claims to east Jerusalem, home to the city's most sensitive holy sites, lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and have triggered serious violence in the past.

The unrest came a day after violence in which Palestinian medics said more than 200 Palestinians were wounded in clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and elsewhere in Jerusalem. Friday’s violence drew condemnations from Israel’s Arab allies and calls for calm from the United States and Europe and the United Nations. The Arab League scheduled an emergency meeting on Monday.

Early Sunday, the Israeli military said Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at the country’s south and it fell in an open area. There were no reports of damage or casualties.

Police chief Koby Shabtai said he had deployed more police in Jerusalem following Friday night’s clashes, which left 18 police officers wounded. After weeks of nightly violence, Israelis and Palestinians were bracing for more conflict in the coming days.

“The right to demonstrate will be respected but public disturbances will be met with force and zero tolerance. I call on everyone to act responsibly and with restraint,” Mr Shabtai said.

Saturday night was “Laylat al-Qadr” or the “Night of Destiny,” the most sacred in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Islamic authorities estimated 90,000 people gathered for intense night time prayers at Al-Aqsa, the third-holiest site in Islam.

A large crowd of protesters screamed “God is great” outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate, and police were pelted with rocks and water bottles. Police patrols fired stun grenades as they moved through the area, and a police lorry periodically fired a water cannon.

Palestinian medics said 64 Palestinians were wounded, mostly by rubber bullets, stun grenades or beatings, among them a woman whose face was bloodied. Eleven people were hospitalised, they said.

One man with a small boy yelled at the police as they marched by. “You should be ashamed!” he said.

Earlier, police reported clashes in the Old City, near Al-Aqsa, and in the nearby east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where dozens of Palestinians are fighting attempts by Israeli settlers to evict them from their homes. Police reported several arrests, and said one officer was struck in the face with a rock.

Earlier Saturday, police stopped a convoy of buses that were filled with Arab citizens on the main highway heading to Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers. Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said police stopped the buses for a security check.

Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during Ramadan, and travellers, upset that they were stopped without explanation on a hot day, exited the buses and blocked the highway in protest.
Kan showed footage of the protesters praying, chanting slogans and marching along the highway towards Jerusalem. The road was reopened several hours later.

Ibtasam Maraana, an Arab member of parliament, accused police of a “terrible attack” on freedom of religion. “Police: Remember that they are citizens, not enemies,” she wrote on Twitter.